Two-time world champion Chen blew away his great Japanese rival Yuzuru Hanyu with a total overall score of 335.30 points after his free skate to Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’.

Double Olympic champion Hanyu was thwarted in his bid for a record fifth Grand Prix Final title, taking silver with 291.43. France’s Kevin Aymoz won bronze with 275.63.

“It felt amazing, I’m really thrilled with the score,” said Chen.

“Finally this season I was able to lay down two pretty solid, relatively clean programmes.”

Taking to the ice last, Chen had a long wait for the rink to be cleared of the hundreds of Winnie The Pooh soft toys and gifts thrown onto the ice by Hanyu’s adoring fans on the Japanese skater’s 25th birthday.

The American nailed five quadruple jumps, earning extra points including two in the second half of his programme, culminating with a triple lutz-triple toeloop combination.

The 20-year-old bettered his own record scores from last year’s world championships in the free skate by 8.9 points and the overall record by nearly 12 points.

“I’m a little jealous of him,” said Hanyu. “But I really respect him.