Olympic Figure Skating: Nathan Chen Becomes 2nd American Man to Win Gold Medal in 30 Years

American figure skater Nathan Chen came into Thursday's free skate in Beijing in the driver's seat, and he did exactly what he needed to do as he won the gold medal with a dominating performance.

Chen, who posted a world-record short program score of 113.97 earlier this week, led by nearly six points after the short program, and doubled that lead with his free skate, posting a combined score of 332.60, a new world-record.

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Fellow American Jason Brown enters the competition in sixth place after posting a personal-best score of 97.24 in the short program.

Chen's victory makes him the first American man to win a figure skating gold medal in the Olympics since Evan Lysacek bested the field in Vancouver during the 2010 Games.

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Figure skater Nathan Chen may be a three-time World champion, a six-time U.S. national champion and an Olympic medalist— but he says he never could have come this far without the support of his mother.

Prior to Lysacek, the last American man to win a gold medal in Olympic figure skating was Brian Boitano, who did so in Calgary in 1988.

In all, seven American men have captured gold medals in Olympic figure skating, with Dick Button, Hayes Alan Jenkins, David Jenkins and Scott Hamilton also winning the event.