American skater Nathan Chen dazzles in his Olympic return

BEIJING — Nathan Chen stood in the middle of the Olympic rink, bent his arm over his chest and gave a slight bow to the judges, then briskly skated away following his short program during the team competition at the Winter Games. He was perfect in Beijing: His massive, opening quad flip to “La Bohème” seemed almost to reach the rafters, his often troublesome triple axel was faultless and the harrowing quad lutz-triple toe loop combination in the middle of the program left him with the second-highest short program score ever in international competition. “It’s nice to be able to have run-throughs like this,” Chen said after helping the Americans take a two-point lead over the heavily favored Russians following the first of three days in the team event. Looking at the roster, we know we have the potential to bring home the gold medal.” Chen’s massive performance, coupled with their finishes in pairs and ice dance, leaves the Americans with 28 points heading into the women’s short program on Sunday. “Either way is cool for me,” said Chen, brushing aside any thought of resting ahead of the individual competition, which begins immediately after the team event and where he will face Hanyu once again.