Nathan Chen wins his third straight men's World's Figure Skating Championship

Nathan Chen lands one of his five quads at the Worlds Figure Skating Championship.

American Nathan Chen won his third straight men's title at the World Figure Skating Championship in Stockholm, Sweden.

Chen was favored to win and he didn't disappoint demonstrating why he earned the title, Quad King, executing five quads in the freestyle portion of the figure skating competition.

The 21-year old Chen's victory makes him the man to beat in the 2022 Olympics in chenzu, China. He has not lost a competition since the 2018 Olympics, when he earned a Bronze medal after a performing a short program short of his expectations.

His next goal is to qualify for the Olympics in Beijing, China next year. "I am looking forward to next season and what everyone else brings to the table," Chen said, "and challenging myself to be as good as I can be."

"I wouldn't say this is my best free program ever," Chen said. "But it's one I will definitely remember forever and cherish, being able to skate like that and skate this piece here at worlds."

In the women's competition, Russia dominated, sweeping all three medals on the podium. American Karen Chen fourth place finish was a surprise after U.S. champion Bradie Tennell finished a disappointing ninth. 

America's Karen Chen feels she is as getting better heading towards the Olympic year 2022.

Karen Chen and men's champion Nathan Chen are not related.

Since Chen was crowned as the 2017 U.S. champion, before finishing 11th in the 2018 Olympics. In 2019, she had an injury followed by break caused by Covid-19. In the U.S. chmpionship, she placed third.

“This season has been really different than any other season for me, where it was constantly good and bad, good and bad, good and bad,” Chen said. “This is the first season where I felt I kept building.”

Chas had a very bumpy path the past three seasons, losing one to a foot injury, beginning the next in college at Cornell before taking a leave, dealing with the pandemic. She finished third at January’s U.S. Championships but earned the second world team spot in a selection procedure that weighs more than one season’s results.

“This season has been really different than any other season for me, where it was constantly good and bad, good and bad, good and bad,” Chen said. “This is the first season where I felt I kept building.”

In the figure skating dance category, the American team of Hawaii-born Madison Chock and her partner Evan Bates finished fourth but feel their routines will get stronger as the Olympics draw closer. Their practices were placed off-track after Chock suffered a concussion last summer in an off-ice fall.

“We are in the best possible shape of our lives, honestly,” Chock said. “We feel really strong and really confident in the work we’ve done leading up to this event.”

Their pair's performance bodes well for the U.S. skating team in 2022. The other American team featuring Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the Silver medal.

“We came here for a gold medal, and there is definitely disappointment around that … We also know that we are progressing, that we are building, we are gaining the qualities we want as a team,” Donohue said. “We look at this as momentum, creating a hunger.”