US Figure Skating Olympics 2026 Top Performers, Highlights from Friday

The United States leads the team figure skating event by two points after three events.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates produced the best score in the rhythm dance to give the Americans the early lead. Alysa Liu took second in the women's short program to solidify the advantage.

Team USA should be in the lead going into the second half of the competition. Ilia Malinin will skate the men's short program portion of the event on Saturday.

The top five countries after the men's short program will advance to the medal round, which comes down to the free skate in all four disciplines.

Team Event Standings

1. United States - 25 points
2. Japan - 23
3. Italy - 22
4. Georgia - 20
5. Canada - 19
6. France - 17
7. South Korea - 11
8. Great Britain - 11
9. China - 10
10. Poland - 6

Madison Chock and Evan Bates got Team USA off to a fantastic start in the team event.

The top-ranked ice dance pair in the world scored a 91.06 in the rhythm dance to earn 10 points in the team event.

Danny O'Shea and Ellie Kam added five points to the Team USA haul with a fifth-place finish in the pairs short program.

O'Shea and Kam produced a score of 66.59. Pairs is the weakest discipline for Team USA. The American pair finished behind the four other likely medal contenders in the pairs short program.

Alysa Liu brought in nine points for Team USA in the women's short program. She took second behind Japan's Kaori Sakamoto.

Liu's score was just under four points below Sakamoto's score of 78.88. That provided an early insight into what the women's singles competition, which takes place next week, could look like.

For now, the focus is on securing gold in the team event for the second straight Winter Olympics.

Ilia Malinin is expected to extend the American lead in the qualification round with a first-place finish in Saturday's men's short program.

The top five teams in points after the men's short program qualify for the medal round. The free skate in ice dance, pairs, women's and men's will take place in the medal round. All teams are allowed to use different competitors in the final round.