The American team is looking to repeat as gold-medal winners from the Beijing Games.
MILAN — Paced by the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, closed with a dramatic finish by Alysa Liu, the United States began the first three segments of the team figure skating event with a strong performance. The United States is looking to repeat as gold medalists in the team event, and Friday’s segments gave the Americans a solid push in that direction.
First on the day’s schedule: Ice dancing’s rhythm dance segment. That scheduling allowed the United States to send out its most veteran skaters, Chock and Bates, who have a combined nine Olympics’ worth of experience between them. They relished the challenge of leading the U.S. charge and starting first.
“Why not? It’s great,” Chock said after their skate. “Got the Olympic buzz, we get in and we do our job, and it feels more like a regularly scheduled competition.”
Skating to a medley of Lenny Kravitz hits, Chock and Bates performed the finest skate of the rhythm dance round, earning a 91.06 to finish atop the standings and gain the United States 10 points. Chock and Bates also kept challengers from France and Japan at bay, which will be necessary if the U.S. is to repeat its performance from Beijing.
Four years ago, the Americans actually finished second to the Russians, but medals were never handed out after Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance. It wasn’t until the 2024 Summer Games in Paris when the U.S. team, including Chock and Bates, received their medals in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
“To break 90 is always a great feat,” Bates said. “To do it at an Olympic Games is even better.”
“It sets Team USA up great for the rest of the week,” Chock said. “We're really happy to have been able to put out that performance for them.”
The pairs duo of Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea came into this Olympics carrying significant pressure in the team event. With likely medalists at every other spot, Kam and O’Shea need to hold up their leg in order to keep the U.S. team medal hopes alive.
Troubles struck the pair midway through their routine, as Kam fell during an attempted triple loop. But she recovered quickly, and the duo, skating to k.d. lang’s “Hallelujah,” was able to post a score of 66.59, fifth overall in the segment. The United States maintained its overall lead with a total of 16 points, two points ahead of Italy, Canada and Georgia.
“We like to we wish that we were perfect every single time we stepped out on the ice,” Kam said, “but unfortunately … the ice is slippery, there's two of us, there's two different timings and sometimes things aren't exactly as perfect as we want it to be.”
Liu, one of America’s leading gold medal hopes, wrapped up the day’s segments with the women’s short program. Skating to Laufey’s “Promise,” Liu carved a graceful, powerful program that drew a rousing cheer from the American contingent in the audience. Liu scored a 74.90 to keep the United States in first place after the first day of the team event.
Teams at the Olympics include one woman, one man, one pairs team and one dance team. The team event comprises eight segments: a short program and a free skate for each of the four individuals/pairs. The Olympics began with 10 teams; after the four short programs, the top five teams will advance to the free skate segments. Teams have the opportunity to swap out two members between segments for strategic or injury reasons.
Earlier in the day, Team USA announced that Ilia Malinin, widely regarded as the gold medal favorite in the men’s program, would be skating the men’s short program segment for the team. Given how quickly the men’s event follows the end of the team event, it’s likely American team officials will reassess Malinin’s role on the team after the end of the short program segments on Saturday.
Category: General Sports
