After cruising to his first world championship gold last year, American wonderteen Nathan Chen (who is also a pre-med student at Yale, no big deal), managed to top an incredible free skate by Japan’s two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu to win back-to-back world titles.
The 19-year-old started off strong with his short program that included four clean quadruple jumps. Then, his powerful free skate was enough to beat the crowd’s favorite, Hanyu, who finished second. From the Guardian:
Chen broke the world record for both the free skate and total points, set moments before by Hanyu, surging to victory with 216.02 and a total of 323.42.
“As soon as I stepped on the ice, I felt that energy already there. He (Hanyu) has been pushing the sport making the sport so enjoyable, so competitive, and that definitely made me so much better of a skater,” said Chen.
Chen’s fellow American, 18-year-old Vincent Zhou, finished third.