The United States got the boost it was looking for as Madison Chock and Evan Bates topped the rhythm dance segment, reinforcing their status as the gold-standard pairing in the sport and giving Team USA critical momentum early in the team competition.

“We love this program, we’re so excited to be kicking this off for Team USA,” Chock said ahead of the event. The only returning members of the 2022 Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. figure skating team, the veterans showed how it’s done, looking calm, confident and in control.

FULL RESULTS

Skating second to last in the second warm-up group, Chock and Bates leaned on the consistency that has defined their Olympic season. The three-time reigning world champions (2023–25) opened the year with victories at Grand Prix China and Skate America before delivering their biggest head-to-head result of the season at December’s Grand Prix Final, where they defeated their closest rivals by more than six points. They carried that form into Milan, putting down another confident performance in their Lenny Kravitz rhythm dance that reflected the late-season surge Bates described after nationals as “the best free dance we’ve skated all year.”

Already Olympic team event gold medalists from Beijing — with medals formally awarded in Paris in 2024 — Chock and Bates are chasing the one prize missing from their résumé: individual Olympic ice dance gold. Their skate here underscored why they remain the benchmark, blending technical control with the performance maturity that comes from four Olympic cycles together.

France finished 2nd behind the Americans, with Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron continuing a remarkable debut season as a team, earning 89.98 points — a season’s best. Though newly partnered, neither skater is new to the sport’s biggest stages — Cizeron is already an Olympic champion — and their rapid rise has been one of this Olympic year’s defining storylines.

The French arrived in Milan riding momentum from a dominant European Championships win in January, where they posted the highest total score of the season. Their second-place finish here keeps France in position to make it to the final of the team event and sets up what remains one of the marquee rivalries of these Games, after Chock and Bates also came out ahead at the Grand Prix Final in December.

Great Britain claimed 3rd in the segment as Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson scored 86.85, earning eight team points and further cementing their breakout Olympic campaign. The reigning world bronze medalists delivered another energetic, crowd-pleasing performance, continuing the momentum they’ve built since becoming Britain’s first world medalists in figure skating in more than four decades. Their podium finish here keeps Great Britain squarely in the team event conversation and reinforces their status as legitimate individual medal contenders.

Canada followed closely in 4th, with Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier earning 85.79 and seven team points. Gilles and Poirier — who have medaled at each of the last three World Championships since Beijing — delivered a composed skate after an Olympic season marked by tight judging calls and inconsistency. Still searching for their first Olympic medal, the Canadians remain very much in the mix as both the team and individual events unfold.

Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri placed 5th with 83.54, earning six points for the host nation. Competing at their home Olympics and in what they’ve indicated will be their final season, Guignard and Fabbri continued their late-season resurgence following silver at January’s European Championships, providing Italy with another steady contribution toward its team medal ambitions.

Georgia finished 6th with Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin, who scored 78.97 points and five team points, crucial for Georgia's Olympic medal campaign.

The pairs segment of the Olympic figure skating team event played out with the expected medal contenders on top — but it also gave the United States exactly what it needed: a steady, credible skate from Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea earning 6 points that kept Team USA in the thick of the team gold race heading into the remaining disciplines.

Kam and O’Shea leaned into the strengths that have carried them through an injury-disrupted season with big, secure lifts, inventive transitions, and an emotional well-balanced performance. 

“We’re just trying to take it moment by moment and just enjoy every second,” Kam said before competing. 

“Today, we’re just excited to go out there and bring joy to the ice,” O’Shea added.

FULL RESULTS

The team event requires considerable strategy, and Team USA's path to gold is far from given. Each entrant earns points: 10 points go to 1st place, 9 points to 2nd place, and so on. National teams qualified over the previous season and must have at least three of the four disciplines qualified in the individual event. 

Teams may swap out skaters in two disciplines after the short programs and rhythm dance segments. The U.S. contingent has already announced they will include both Liu and Glenn in the event, with Liu competing the short program and Glenn skating in the free skate. That leaves only one other possible substitution, and with the individual ice dance and men’s events starting shortly after the conclusion of the team event, some athletes may be looking to preserve their energy.

With nothing certain, figure skating fans can expect high drama right from the start — where every placement point can swing medal prospects in this format that rewards national depth and consistency as much as individual brilliance.