MILAN — The greatest U.S. Olympic figure skating team in history, on paper, began to show its might on the ice Friday morning.
After the first of three days of competition in the Ryder Cup-style Olympic figure skating team event, the Americans were ahead with 25 points, followed by Japan with 23. Next were Italy with 22, Georgia with 20 and Canada, 19.
With two-time world champion Ilia Malinin, the ‘Quad God,’ set to skate the men’s short program Saturday night, the Americans are almost certain to have the lead at the halfway point of the competition before it turns to the long programs in the four disciplines, with the medals to be awarded Sunday.
But the competition is close enough that Malinin might be needed in the long program as well to secure the gold medal, should Japan continue to perform well. He would rather not skate the long program in the team event as the men’s individual event begins 48 hours after the team event.
To no one’s surprise, seven-time national champions and reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates kicked off the competition by winning the ice dance portion, giving the Americans a quick 10 points. Right on their heels were the new French team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, with Chock and Bates receiving 91.06 points to 89.98 for the French.
‘I think it sets Team USA up great for the rest of the week,” Chock said.
Next came the pairs event, the weakest event for the United States. (An American pair has not won an Olympic medal since 1988, and that drought is almost certain to continue in the pairs competition later in the Games.) The U.S. finished fifth among the 10 teams to get six points, a result that wasn’t great, but was good enough.
The final battle Friday was a contest between the best in the women’s game, and they both rose to the occasion. Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, the three-time world champion and 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, defeated reigning world champion Alysa Liu of the United States, 78.88 points to 74.90. So Japan received the 10 points for first place, the U.S. nine points for second.
When all is said and done Sunday, perhaps that one point differential will matter. Then again, perhaps it won’t.