American figure skater Nathan Chen is a rising star in the sport and he'll be a key part of the USA figure skating team at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang next month.
Chen won the the 2018 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday, placing first with an overall score of 315.23 points -- a wide margin above Ross Miner, who finished in second-place with 274.51 points. It's the second consecutive U.S. championship win for Chen.
Fresh on the heels of that big victory, the 18-year-old Chen was officially added to Team USA's Olympic roster on Sunday. He is one of three skaters who had their tickets to South Korea punched on Sunday, with Adam Rippon and Vincent Zhou the others.
"It's been a fun journey since 2002. This is exactly where I wanted to be; this is all that I dreamed of," said Chen on Friday. "I'm really happy that I took all the right steps. I put the work in to get myself to where I am now. It's all happening so fast. It seems like it was yesterday that I first stepped onto the ice. I still need time to wrap my head around everything, but I'm so happy with everything that's already happened."
This will be the first Olympic appearance for Chen, who will enter the competition with plenty of hype.
