American Nathan Chen overcame a world record free skate by Yuzuru Hanyu with an even more sensational routine to successfully defend his world figure skating championship on Saturday in Saitama, Japan.
Chen, a pre-med student at Yale University, is now the first US man to win back-to-back world titles since Scott Hamilton won four in a row from 1981-1984.
Hanyu, Japan’s double Olympic champion, finished with t total score of 300.97 points, well behind Chen’s 323.42.
Vincent Zhou of the US won the bronze with a season-best free skate (186.99) and total score (281.16), giving the Americans a pair of skaters on the men’s podium at worlds for the first time since 1996, when Todd Eldredge won gold and Rudy Galindo took the bronze in Edmonton, Canada.