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

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Olympic figure skating kicks off Friday with the team competition, in which the U.S. is heavily favored to hold off rival Japan and defend its gold medal from 2022.

The team event is relatively new, making its debut in the 2014 Sochi Games. It pits the world’s 10 top-ranked countries against each other, via representatives in each of the four skating disciplines: men’s, women’s, pairs and ice dance.

Countries get points (1-10) depending on how they score in the first two events (short program and rhythm dance), and the top five move on to the final round (free skate and free dance).

The main battle to watch is between the U.S. and Japan, who finished as the top two in 2022 after Russia was disqualified over a doping case involving one of its skaters. The absence of Russia — still banned from the Games over its war in Ukraine — means that the third medal is somewhat up for grabs.

“There are so many countries vying for that bronze spot,” Canadian ice dancer Piper Gilles said. “There’s Georgia, there’s us, everybody’s pushing for it.”

Part of the suspense 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.”

Take the men, for example. Their free skate closes out the team event on Sunday, just two days before their first day of individual competition.

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 U.S. has an advantage here, in part because of the sheer size of its 16-person team, having secured maximum quota spots in men’s, women’s and ice dance. The next biggest teams, Japan and Canada, have 12 people each.

“This team in particular is so deep, so talented, and has a great opportunity for a gold medal,” U.S. ice dancer Evan Bates said earlier this week, before the roster was even announced.

Here’s what we know so far.

Who is competing when? 

Friday opens with the three shorter programs in women’s, pairs and ice dance.

The U.S. has chosen Alysa Liu — the 20-year-old reigning world champion and two-time Olympian — to compete in the women’s category, at least in the first part of the team event. Earlier this week, when asked whether women might split that category, Liu told reporters “we all signed an NDA for that!”

Her main competition is three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto, who won bronze in 2022 in addition to helping Japan win silver in the team event.

In pairs, U.S. is putting forward 2024 national champions Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea. They face a steep challenge from Japan’s Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi, two-time Olympians and two-time world champions.

Representing the U.S. in ice dance are powerhouses Madison Chock and Evan Bates, reigning seven-time national champions who helped Team USA win gold in this very event in 2022. They are hoping for a repeat this year, which marks their fourth Olympics together.

“Any time you get the opportunity to compete at the Olympics, you want to cherish it, so there’s nothing but positives for us here,” Chock said earlier this week.

What’s next? 

The team event continues on Saturday with the last ice dance program — the free dance — and the first men’s event, the short program.

The U.S. has chosen gold medal favorite Ilia Malinin, who could become the first person to ever land a quadruple axel on Olympic ice. 

But it’s not clear whether Malinin will take that risk as early as the team event, especially since he doesn’t need it in order to top the leaderboard. He won U.S. championships in January by more than 50 points even without the quad axel, playing it somewhat safe (if you consider a backflip on ice safe) as he broke in new skates. 

Saturday is also when we’ll find out who will represent Team USA in the final half of team competition, in other words, which two athletes will sub out. Sunday concludes with the free skate — the longer, more creative program — in pairs, women’s and men’s.

On Sunday, once all the points are tallied, the first figure skating medals of these Games will be given out. And there will be more to come — the first ice dance competitions start the very next day.