Olympic Figure Skating Schedule 2022: Women's Free Skate TV, Live-Stream Info

Kamila Valieva went through several days of not knowing whether she would be allowed to continue competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned substance prior to the Games. But after the 15-year-old figure skater was cleared on Monday, she took the ice for the Russian Olympic Committee on Tuesday.

As expected, Valieva put together a strong performance in the short program and showed why she's still the favorite to capture the gold medal in the women's figure skating event in Beijing. She had a score of 82.16 points in Tuesday's event, which has her in first place. She will now look to capture the gold on the back of a strong showing in the free skate, which is scheduled for Thursday.

Here's everything you need to know heading into the women's free skate competition.

                     

Women's Free Skate Info

Date: Thursday, Feb. 17

Start Time: 5 a.m. ET

TV: USA Network

Live Stream: Peacock, NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com

Re-air: 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC

              

Preview

Although Valieva impressed again in the women's short program, she wasn't as dominant as she was during the team event earlier in the Olympics. In that competition, she had significantly bigger scores than the rest of the field in both the short program and free skate to help the Russian Olympic Committee win gold.

This time, Valieva's 82.16 points were solid and good enough for the lead, but it isn't unassailable heading into the free skate. And that could make things interesting Thursday.

Valieva has a slim advantage over one of her ROC teammates. Anna Shcherbakova posted a score of 80.20 points, which has her in a position to potentially overtake Valieva with a strong performance in the free skate. Fellow Russian Alexandra Trusova placed fourth in the short program with 74.60 points.

A pair of Japanese figure skaters also had strong showings in the short program. Kaori Sakamoto placed third with 79.84 points, while Wakaba Higuchi was fifth with 73.51 points.

Valieva's lone mistake during the short program came on an early triple-axel attempt, as she stumbled and nearly fell. However, she recovered to deliver a solid performance that the judges deemed to be the strongest of the day.

Because of the controversy surrounding Valieva's failed drug test, the International Olympic Committee announced there won't be a medal ceremony for the women's figure skating event in Beijing if Valieva places in the top three.

This is Valieva's first time participating at the Winter Olympics, and it's highly probable she will earn a medal following the free skate. Shcherbakova and Trusova are also making their debuts at the Games, and it's possible the Russian trio could comprise the medal places.

Sakamoto will try to prevent that from happening, and she's off to a strong start considering she was only 2.32 points behind Valieva in the short program. The 21-year-old helped Japan win the bronze medal in the team event, and she's looking for her first individual Olympic medal.

Of the three American figure skaters in the event, Alysa Liu performed the best in the short program, placing eighth. Mariah Bell was in 11th, while Karen Chen ended up 13th. It seems unlikely that any of the three will come away with a medal from the competition.

While there were 30 figure skaters who competed in the short program, 25 entered for the free skate. They will perform in descending order from the short-program scores, so Valieva will be the final skater to take the ice as she aims to secure the gold.