Winter Olympics Figure Skating 2026 Saturday Live Stream and Predictions for Team Event

The 2026 Milano Cortina Games is bringing fans a thrilling figure skating competition, which got underway on Friday. Team USA put itself in a strong early position after the first round of women's singles, pairs, and ice dance.

Rhythm dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates led the way for the U.S. with a top score of 91.06.

"We definitely skated great, and very happy," Bates said, per Jordan Mendoza and Rachel G Bowers of USA Today. "As you saw at the finish, I think we both felt just the excitement of getting these Olympics underway."

Pairs team Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea secure a top-five finish after an early fall, while reigning world champion Alysa Liu scored an impressive 74.90 in singles for Team USA. However, Japan's Kaori Sakamoto fared even better with a score of 78.80, which helped lead to a tight race entering Saturday.

Here's a look at what lies ahead.

Saturday Schedule and Viewing Information

1:45 p.m. ET

Team Event: Men's Singles Short Program

Watch on: Peacock

4:05 p.m. ET

Team Event: Free Dance

Watch on: NBC, Peacock

*Events can also be streamed on NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, NBC app, and NBC Sports app. Full broadcast schedule can be found at NBCOlympics.com. Complete event schedule can be found at Olympics.com.

Saturday Preview and Prediction

Tim Clayton/Getty Images

Ilia Malinin

Saturday's slate will feature two figure skating events: the men's short routine and ice dancing free dance.

The men's competition will represent the final qualifying round for team events, while ice dance will be the first stage of the team finals. Sunday will bring the pairs, women's and men's freestyle events and the medal ceremony.

Chock and Bates should continue their strong dancing run. As the only returning members of Team USA's 2022 gold-medal-winning team, they've been in this position before. Chock and Bates set the tone on Friday by outscoring the impressive French duo of Laurence Fournier and Guillaume Cizeron.

"I think it sets Team USA up great for the rest of the week," Chock said, per Lena Smirnova and Nick McCarvel of Olympics.com. "We're really happy to have been able to put out that performance for them and put Team USA in first place right now."

According to Mendoza, Chock and Bates are expected to skate in all four ice dancing events, including Saturday's team final.

If he skates, men's star Ilia Malinin should keep the U.S. in the lead through qualifying. The 21-year-old phenom is one of the most athletic and innovative skaters in the world and remains, to date, the only skater to successfully land a quadruple axle in competition.

However, Malinin is a heavy favorite for the men's individual competition, so he may not push himself to skate in both portions of the team event. According to Christine Brennan of USA Today, fans may get to see Malinin on Saturday and not Sunday:

"The current plan, according to people with knowledge of the situation, is for Malinin to skate the men's short program in the team event, at which time U.S. officials will assess the Americans' medal position to decide if Malinin is needed in the long program."

If Malinin doesn't get the nod on Saturday, Andrew Torgashev or Max Naumov should take the ice.

The prediction here is that Malinin does indeed skate and ensures that Team USA enters the finals with a strong lead. Chock and Bates then give the United States a bigger lead heading into Sunday.