WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- American figure skater Nathan Chen won his third straight national title on Sunday with a sensational free skate.

Chen, 20, winner of the World Championships in 2018, earned a record-breaking 342.22 total points through two days of competition, defeating runner-up Vincent Zhou by over 58 points. Jason Brown was third.

"The score definitely took me by surprise," Chen said after his free skate. "It was a lot bigger than I was expecting, but ultimately scores are scores. I'm happy with what I did and hopefully I can continue to do that in other competitions."

Chen is the first U.S. man to win three straight titles since Johnny Weir accomplished the feat in 2006.