US Olympic Figure Skating 2018: America's Short Program Top Scorers, Highlights

Pairs moved to the forefront at the figure skating venue at Gangneung Tuesday night (American time), and while the Chinese team of of Su Wenjing and Han Cong are at the top of the standings after the short program, the American team of Alexa Scimeca-Knierim and Chris Knierim struggled to put their best performance together.

While the Americans qualified to skate in the pairs finals, they are in 14th place after their initial skating program. The top 16 pairs get to participate in the long program.

Their chances of winning a medal are quite remote, considering the number of errors made during the skate.

The husband-and-wife team skated with athleticism and aggressiveness, but a few of their moves, throws and jumped were mistimed, and they scored a 65.55.

Scimeca-Knierim went a bit too far on a triple twist and also put a hand down on the ice in one of her maneuvers, while Knierim stepped out of a triple salchow.

Despite their on-ice struggles, the pair remained positive in their post-race analysis, according to ESPN.com's report.

While the American pair had skating issues, Su and Han demonstrated their artistry, athleticism and experience while skating to "Hallelujah."

The performance brought tears to the eyes of the two skaters and many of their supporters in the crowd. As they sat in the team box awaiting their scorers, the Chinese skaters looked both apprehensive and hopeful.

As they waved to the crowd and the television cameras, they saw their score of 82.39 flash, moving them into first place.

They are in a strong position to win the gold medal in pairs skating.

To do that, they are going to have to get the best of Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany. Those two skated with flair and pizzazz, but they did not execute as well as Sui and Han, and they received a score of 76.59.

Massot failed to complete a triple on a side-by-side jump, and that left the German pair in fourth place after the short program.

Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov had a technically sharp performance and moved into second place after scoring 81.68. Tarasova and Morozov skated as Olympic Athletes from Russia. They were error-free, but they did not skate with the emotion of the top Chinese pair.

Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford moved into third place with a 76.82, but there were several missed elements to their routine, including a landing that appeared to be mistimed.

Pairs Figure Skating Standings (After Short Program)

1. Sui Wenjing/Han Cong CHN - 82.39 (44.49, 37.90)
2. Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov OAR - 81.68 (43.97, 37.71)
3. Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford CAN - 76.82 (41.26, 35.56)
4. Aljona Savchenko/Bruno Massot GER - 76.59 (39.16, 37.43)
5. Yu Xiaoyu/Zhang Hao CHN - 75.58 (42.10, 33.48)
6. Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres FRA - 75.34 (40.67, 34.67)
7. Valentina Marchei/Ondrej Hotarek ITA - 74.50 (40.36, 34.14)
8. Natalia Zabiiako/Alexander Enbert OAR - 74.35 (40.13, 34.22)
9. Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise ITA - 74.00 (40.41, 33.59)
10. Kristina Astakhova/Alexei Rogonov OAR - 70.52 (38.93, 31.59)
11. Tae Ok Ryom/Ju Sik Kim PRK - 69.40 (38.79, 30.61)
12. Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau CAN - 67.52 (35.63, 31.89)
13. Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro CAN - 65.68 (34.46, 31.22)
14. Alexa Scimeca-Knierim/Chris Knierim USA - 65.55 (34.18, 31.37)
15. Anna Duskova/Martin Bidar CZE - 63.25 (34.62, 28.63)
16. Annika Hocke/Ruben Blommaert GER - 63.04 (34.61, 28.43)

Chinese skaters Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao were at the top of their game with their short program. They executed a series of thrilling twists, throws and maneuvers, and they scored a 75.58, moving into fifth place.

Yu and Zhang put pressure on all the skaters that followed, and the Knierems were among them.

One of the early highlights was the performance of Tae Ok Ryom and Ju Sik Kim of North Korea. the South Korean skating fans welcomed them with warm applause, and the skaters put on a memorable show, with a score of 69.40.

More than the numbers, the effervescent execution of Ryom and Kim won over the crowd, which gave them a raucous ovation after they finished their routine.

Ryom and Kim are in 11th place.