Majestic and composed, Chen exulted at the end — shaking off his terrible short performance four years ago at the Pyeongchang Olympics and setting him up to win gold after Thursday's free skate.
Chen's showing at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing clenches a season-best international score and helps put U.S. figure skating on top in the team event.
In a huge comeback, Nathan Chen spun around four times in the air during six jumps on the second and final day of the men's singles figure skating competition.