After two weeks of figure skating at the Milan Cortina Games, the final event of the sport will get underway on Thursday to round out the women's singles results. 

As expected, athletes from Japan and the U.S. currently sit atop the podium after Tuesday's short program, but with the free skate still to go, nothing is even close to set in stone.

TAKE A LOOK BACK AT THE WOMEN'S SHORT PROGRAM UPDATES, HIGHLIGHTS AND SCORES AS THEY HAPPENED 

Japanese breakout talent Ami Nakai is out front heading into the free skate after a triple Axel and a triple-Lutz-triple-toe-loop combination jump boosted her score to the top spot. Just 17, she skated a fun, high energy performance that showcased her youth while also leveraging her serious technical ability.

Only slightly behind her was veteran three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto. She performed her short program to "Time to Say Goodbye," an emotional ode to the fact she has said this will be her last competitive season. 

Less than a point behind her, U.S. world champion Alysa Liu completed the top three after another gorgeous outing of her fan-favorite "Promise" short program. 

FULL SHORT PROGRAM RESULTS

But in figure skating, the free skate typically provides room for a drastic reshuffle, and many skaters who currently sit lower in the rankings have the firepower to rise to the top. 

The first of these is Adeliya Petrosian, who gave a measured performance in the short program for a 5th place standing. It's been rumored she plans to attempt two quadruple jumps in the free skate, which would effectively guarantee her gold. However, after a season impacted by injury, she has yet to cleanly land any quads in international competition and has struggled with them during practice in Milan. 

Japan's Mone Chiba, who is currently in 4th place could also produce an effort for the podium, and, with a slightly outside chance, so could Anastasiia Gubanova who is in 6th. Those who finished the short program lower down will need to have the skate of their lives to make a real push for Olympic hardware, but again, in figure skating, nothing is over till it's over.

Perhaps one of the more difficult moments of Tuesday's short program for U.S. fans, was watching three-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn "pop" her triple loop jump. After producing an electrifying triple Axel at the top of her short program, things seemed to be going strong – until she doubled the planned triple. That small mistake proved costly. Per International Skating Union rules, any solo jump other than an Axel, must be a triple in the short program, and therefore the element was invalidated completely, and she finished the segment in a disappointing 13th place. Glenn has the arsenal to deliver a dominant free skate – as was seen at the U.S Figure Skating Championships last month – but it will take something extraordinary to get her on the podium on Thursday.

Isabeau Levito has been overlooked as Olympic medal material this season, but in 8th place, she is still within touching distance, and depending how the top group performs, it's hard to completely count her out altogether. 

Watch the Olympic figure skating women's free skate live on Thursday, Feb. 19th at 1 p.m. ET streaming on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com and airing on NBC.

Required elements:

• 7 jump elements (one of which must be an Axel jump)
• 3 spins
• 1 step sequence
• 1 choreographic sequence

Additional free skate rules:

• Maximum of 3 jump combinations (or 2 jump combinations and 1 jump sequence)
• Any double jump (including double Axel) can't be included more than 2x (as a solo jump or as part of a jump combination / sequence).
• Of all triple and quad jumps, only two can be executed twice. Of the two repetitions, only one can be a quadruple jump. If at least one of these executions is in a jump combination / sequence, both executions are attributed their full base value. If both executions are as solo jumps, the second of these solo jumps is attributed 70% of its base value.
• The last three jump elements receive a 1.1 bonus to the base value if executed in the second half of the program

Warm-Up Group 1

• Lorine Schild (FRA)
• Livia Kaiser (SUI)
• Mariia Seniuk (ISR)
• Kimmy Repond (SUI)
• Zhang Ruiyang (CHN)
• Ekaterina Kurakova (POL)

Warm-Up Group 2

• Lara Naki Gutmann (ITA)
• Olga Mikutina (AUT)
• Julia Sauter (ROU)
• Iida Karhunen (FIN)
• Shin Jia (KOR)
• Amber Glenn (USA)

Warm-Up Group 3

• Sofia Samodelkina (KAZ)
• Nina Pinzarrone (BEL)
• Niina Petrokina (EST)
• Lee Haein (KOR)
• Isabeau Levito (USA)
• Loena Hendrickx (BEL)

Warm-Up Group 4 (Final Group)

• Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO)
• Adeliia Petrosian (AIN)
• Mone Chiba (JPN)
• Alysa Liu (USA)
• Kaori Sakamoto (JPN)
• Ami Nakai (JPN)