Chen wins U.S. figure skating title again

Nathan Chen was that much better than everyone else at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Sunday, winning the free skate with 212.63 points and scoring 328.01 in all — good for his sixth consecutive title by nearly 26 points over 17-year-old wunderkind Ilia Malinin at Nashville, Tenn.

Chen’s six titles are the most by a men’s skater since Todd Eldredge won his sixth in 2002, and he is the first to win six in a row since two-time Olympic champion Dick Button won seven straight in the 1940s and ‘50s.

Vincent Zhou followed an exceptional short program with a calamitous free skate Sunday, barely edging Jason Brown for third place and putting his spot on the U.S. team for Beijing in question.

Malinin, whose parents both skated for Uzbekistan at the Olympics, had a three-point lead after the short program over longtime fan favorite Jason Brown, whose odyssey getting to Nashville — five canceled flights, four airline changes, three airports, two countries and about 33 hours of traveling — made him a winner regardless of his performance.

Malinin, the self-proclaimed “quad god,” hit a huge opening quad lutz and quad toe loop to set the tone for his program. He also hit a quad salchow later in the performance to finish second with 302.48 points.

White reportedly pulls out of event due to COVID symptoms:

Shaun White’s withdrawal from an Olympic qualifying event came after he experienced lingering COVID-19 symptoms, including fatigue and shortness of breath, the Associated Press has learned

A person familiar with White’s decision told the AP that White’s withdrawal from Saturday night’s U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain does not impact his plans to compete in Beijing next month.

Last week, White revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19 in December but had been cleared for Mammoth Mountain snowboarding and was on the mend.