Figure skating-Stunning free skate gives Chen third U.S. title

figure skating title in Detroit on Sunday. The 19-year-old Olympian, already a 13-point leader after Saturday's short program, earned 228.80 points for his free skate, which was superior to the total scores of all but six of the 20 men's competitors. "Near perfection," said NBC analyst Tara Lipinski, the 1998 Olympic women's gold medallist.

Chen finished with a total of 342.22 points, ahead of 18-year-old former world junior champion Vincent Zhou, who was 58.21 points adrift in second. Olympian Jason Brown placed third with 273.08. "That program went exactly as I wanted it to," said Chen after his free skate. (Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Peter Rutherford )