Olympic figure skating starts with the team event. Here's what to know about it

Special Series 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics The U.S. leads the figure skating team Updated February ET Originally published February 6, 20264:07 AM ET By Rachel Treisman Team Matthew Stockman/Getty Images hide caption Want more Olympics updates? Get our behind-the-scenes newsletter for what it's like to be at these Games. Team USA the day of the figure skating team event to its gold medal from 2022. ice the first the Sports After Russian doping decision, the U.S. suddenly has 9 new Olympic golden medalists The in in points score the the the been the the a 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics Who are the figure skaters representing Team USA? Key names and backstories to know the U.S. the in the in of Sunday with the free skate — the longer, more creative program — in pairs, women's and men's, the first figure skating medal ceremony of the 2026 their with in the Chock and Bates claimed first and a world-best score of 91.06 in ice dance, followed by France's Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry at a close 89.98. 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics 19 Winter Olympic storylines we're watching (they're not just about sports) Coming in third was British duo Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who got the crowd clapping with their Spice Girls medley (this season's musical theme for rhythm dance is the '90s, so the morning's soundtrack was dominated by girl groups and boy bands). Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier finished fourth. In the pairs short program, Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea of the U.S. made their Olympic debut to a crowd so encouraging — many wearing USA logos and flags — that Kam later said she could barely hear their music over the applause at one point. Kam fell on a throw early in the program, but the duo recovered quickly and finished in fifth place. "It's disappointing whenever you make a mistake, but I think we did an amazing job of picking ourselves back into the program and really finishing with some really strong elements as well," said 34-year-old O'Shea, who came out of retirement to pair up with Kam in 2022. "So the next thing is just put it behind us, keep cheering on our team … and get ready for our long program." Japan's Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi, two-time Olympians and two-time world champions, placed first in pairs by a wide margin. Luka Berulava and Anastasiia Metelkina of Georgia — a growing skating powerhouse thanks to its many Russian-born recruits — placed second, followed by Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii, who had a heroes' welcome on their home turf. "We knew there would be such a [big] audience, but you don't understand it until you go through it," Conti said. Italy also placed third in the women's short program, after reigning European bronze medalist Lara Naki Gutmann earned her season's best score. Alysa Liu, turning heads with her signature striped hair and palpable joy, finished in first place — later bumped down to second — to put the U.S. back on top. "We're not there very long, so I try to savor every moment," said Liu, who competed in the 2022 Olympics but was not part of the team event. Kaori Sakamoto — who won bronze in 2022 in addition to helping Japan medal in the team event — skated last, to an emotional rendition of "Time to Say Goodbye" in honor of her upcoming retirement. She earned her own season-best score to knock Liu out of the top individual spot, but didn't quite close the gap between the two countries on the scoreboard. U.S. pairs skaters Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea made their Olympic debut on Friday. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Europe hide caption Part of the suspense of the team competition is finding out who each country will choose to compete in each category, which is usually announced about 24 hours in advance. It's not as simple as just picking the top scorer in each discipline. It requires some strategizing, since anyone who competes in the team event will still have to take the ice two more times in their own category over the next two weeks. "It's all going to come down to the decisions that the athletes and the people in charge make," U.S. skater Amber Glenn said earlier this week. "We are going to prioritize both physical and mental health." So countries have to decide whether their strongest skater should compete in both programs of the team event, or skip one of them to get some rest in between. Each country can swap up to two (out of four) entries midway through the competition. the of The U.S. has an in part because of the sheer size of its team: 16 people, having secured maximum quota spots in men's, women's and ice dance. The next biggest teams, Japan and Canada, have 12 people each. And several U.S. athletes have downplayed the stress of participating in the team event, instead embracing it as more time on Olympic ice. Pairs skater O'Shea is one of them. "You might think that there's extra pressure, but at the end of the day, it's another performance and you feel the honor to be on the team," he said. Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor