Team USA Skates to Its First-Ever Silver in the Figure Skating Team Event
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Figure skating at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing kicked off with the team event, and the results are in: it's a second gold for Team Russian Olympic Committee, a silver for Team USA (its best result to date), and a bronze for Team Japan, its first medal in the Olympic team event. To secure the gold, Team ROC relied on top-three finishes in all the events, including two first-place skates from top-ranked skater Kamila Valieva. In her free skate, Valieva also made history as the first woman to land a quad jump in the Olympics.
Team USA, meanwhile, started out strong with three career-best routines from Nathan Chen, ice dancers Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, and pairs skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier. On day two, though, the US dropped into second after Karen Chen and Vincent Zhou struggled in their programs. It took a first-place finish from ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates, as well as a comeback routine for Karen Chen, to secure the US its silver.
There's plenty more figure skating to come as the individual events get under way, but we've already seen some stunning skates from Team USA in Beijing. Keep reading to catch up with all the silver-medal-winning team-event programs from Nathan Chen, Hubbell and Donohue, Knierim and Frazier, Karen Chen, Zhou, and Chock and Bates.
Nathan Chen's Short Program in the 2022 Olympics Team Event
If Chen could conquer any demons remaining from his first Olympics, he was the clear favorite to win the men's short program in the team event. The three-time world champion looked calm, cool, and collected from the moment he hit the ice and threw down two quads and a triple axel en route to the second-highest men's short program score in history.
Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue's Rhythm Dance in the 2022 Olympics Team Event
This is Hubbell and Donohue's second Olympics but their first Olympic team event, and they wasted no time in making their mark. Dancing to a mashup of Janet Jackson songs, the three-time national champions hit every move with precision and flair, earning them their highest rhythm dance score ever and a surprise first-place finish in the team rhythm dance. (ROC's Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov were the favorite, but Katsalapov stumbled in a step sequence and opened the door for an upset.)
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier's Short Program in the 2022 Olympics Team Event
Pairs skating is said to be Team USA's weakest discipline, and it seems like Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier took that personally. Their fiery performance set to "House of the Rising Sun" resulted in a career-best short-program score and was enough for a third-place finish behind pairs from China and ROC.
Karen Chen's Short Program in the 2022 Olympics Team Event
Karen Chen's short program is a powerful blend of strength and grace, but a fall during the team event knocked significant points off her score. In a difficult field that included world-record-holder Kamila Valieva, Chen fought for a fifth-place finish, and she'll look to improve upon her 65.20 in the upcoming individual event.
Vincent Zhou's Free Skate in the 2022 Olympics Team Event
Vincent Zhou struggled in his team-event free skate, turning one planned quad flip into a single and possibly under-rotating other jumps. He skated through it and finished strong with a score of 171.44, securing a third-place spot behind Japan's Yuma Kagiyama and ROC's Mark Kondratiuk.
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier's Free Skate in the 2022 Olympics Team Event
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier couldn't quite live up to their superb short program, with Knierem making errors on two jumps in the pair's free skate. Their program, set to a "Fix You" medley, came in fifth place in the team event.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates's Free Dance in the 2022 Olympics Team Event
Madison Chock and Evan Bates made a huge impression with their first performance in Beijing. The pair's one-of-a-kind free dance is set to music by Daft Punk and features an alien-and-astronaut narrative that made an impact both emotionally and artistically. Paired with their trademark lifts and precise skating, the routine earned them the highest score in the field.
Karen Chen's Free Skate in the 2022 Olympics Team Event
Karen Chen came back in a big way with this smooth, stylish, and (most importantly) clean free skate in the last program of the team event. Chen needed to finish in at least fourth place to secure silver for Team USA, and with the pressure on, she went out and did just that. The routine was graceful and self-assured and no doubt gives her a boost of confidence with the women's individual event right around the corner.