The figure skating team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics gets underway Friday morning, kicking off the Olympic figure skating program with the rhythm dance, pairs short program, and women’s short program. 

First held in 2014 in Sochi, 10 national teams will compete over three days in a combined format that blends men’s and women’s singles, pairs, and ice dance, with skaters earning placement points toward a cumulative score across eight segments. After the short programs and rhythm dance, the top five teams will advance to the medal-deciding free skates and free dance.

Team USA enters Milan Cortina with one of the deepest rosters in the field, anchored by reigning world champion Ilia Malinin on the men’s side, and two strong women’s competitors — three-time U.S. national champion Amber Glenn and 2025 world champion Alysa Liu. In ice dance, three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates bring experience and consistency, while the pairs contingent, led by Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, has emerged as a reliable point-producer throughout the Olympic season. 

The fiercest competition comes from Japan, headlined by three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto (competing as their women’s singles entry), 2022 Beijing Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama and frequent podium placer Shun Sato as the men’s singles entries, and two-time world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara on the pairs side. Canada brings a powerful ice dance presence with two-time world silver medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, while Georgia, Italy — skating on home ice — and South Korea also loom as contenders for the top five. 

The skating begins Friday at 4 a.m. ET with the rhythm dance, follows with the pairs short program at 5:35 a.m. ET, and concludes with the women's short program at 7:35 a.m. ET — all streaming on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.

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.

Ice Dance:

Warm-Up Group 1

1. Wang Shiyue / Liu Xinyu — China
2. Sofiia Dovhal / Wiktor Kulesza — Poland
3. Utana Yoshida / Masaya Morita — Japan
4. Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Guillaume Cizeron — France
5. Lim Hannah / Ye Quan — South Korea

Warm-Up Group 2

6. Diana Davis / Gleb Smolkin — Georgia
7. Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier — Canada
8. Charlene Guignard / Marco Fabbri — Italy
9. Madison Chock / Evan Bates — United States of America
10. Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson — Great Britain

Pairs:

Warm-Up Group 1

1. Sui Wenjing / Han Cong — China
2. Camille Kovalev / Pavel Kovalev — France
3. Ioulia Chtchetinina / Michal Wozniak — Poland

Warm-Up Group 2

4. Lia Pereira / Trennt Michaud — Canada
5. Anastasia Vaipan-Law / Luke Digby — Great Britain
6. Ellie Kam / Danny O'Shea — United States of America

Women's singles:

Warm-Up Group 3

7. Sara Conti / Niccolo Macii — Italy
8. Anastasiia Metelkina / Luka Berulava — Georgia
9. Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara — Japan

Warm-Up Group 1

1. Ruiyang Zhang — China
2. Kristen Spours — Great Britain
3. Ekaterina Kurakova — Poland
4. Shin Jia — South Korea
5. Loraine Schild — France