Nathan Chen set aside any doubt following last week’s loss at Skate America with a dominating win at Skate Canada in Vancouver, reports Reuters.
Chen took first after a disappointing third-place finish at Skate America in Las Vegas behind fellow American Vincent Zhou and Japan’s Shoma Uno.
It was his first loss in a major competition since the 2018 Olympics when he won a Bronze medal.
“I definitely had better outings here than I did at Skate America. So I think this is a step forward, and as always with competitions, I want to push myself a little bit forward, a little bit forward, even if it means taking out an element to be a little cleaner,” Chen said, according to Yahoo Sports.
Chen skated for the first time in a competition without his coach Rafael Arutunian by his side. He had to watch from the stands after inadvertently violating COVID-protocols in the bubble.
“In this case, what went down was appropriate,” Chen said. “It was reasonable to adhere to the bubble protocol to keep us all safe.
The 22-year-old American’s 307.18 total at Skate Canada earned Chen a first-place finish ahead of Team USA’s Jason Brown (259.55) and Russian Evgeni Semenenko (256.01) third.
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