Team USA set its lineup for the final day of the Olympic figure skating team event in Milan, with U.S. Figure Skating naming the Americans who will skate the pairs free skate, women’s free skate and men’s free skate — three segments that will decide the medals Monday at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, streaming at 1:30 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
The U.S. will open the day with Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea in the pairs free skate, after the 2024 U.S. champions earned six team points in the short program with a 5th-place finish. Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara are expected to take a second win in the team event, with recent European champions Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava and Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii in hot pursuit.
In women’s singles, Amber Glenn is set to make her Olympic debut in the free skate, substituting for Alysa Liu. Glenn, the reigning three-time U.S. champion and 2024 Grand Prix Final champion, will also make history when she takes the ice: At 26 she’ll become the oldest U.S. women’s singles skater to compete at the Olympics in 98 years. She will go head-to-head with three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, who edged ahead of Team USA's Liu in the short program. Glenn took 1st in front of Sakamoto in the past, namely in the 2024 Grand Prix Final where Glenn took the title, however, this season Sakamoto had the edge.
The closing segment for the Americans will belong to Ilia Malinin, who returns for the men’s free skate after scoring nine team points in the short program. Following his skate, Malinin said he was happy with his Olympic debut, given he was trying to take it easy, lowering his planned content difficulty to preserve himself for the events ahead, while still putting out a credible performance for Team USA. That event was taken by Yuma Kagiyama, who will be substituted for Japan's Shun Sato in the free skate. Undefeated for more than two years, Malinin enters the final day as the reigning two-time world champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion and a four-time U.S. champion, and as the skater expected to anchor the U.S. push when every placement can swing the standings.
Pairs team event start list
- Ellie Kam / Danny O’Shea (USA)
- Lia Pereira / Trennt Michaud (CAN)
- Sara Conti / Niccolo Macii (ITA)
- Anastasiia Metelkina / Luka Berulava (GEO)
- Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara (JPN)
Women's team event start list
- Amber Glenn (USA)
- Kaori Sakamoto (JPN)
- Madeline Schizas (CAN)
- Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO)
- Lara Naki Gutmann (ITA)
Men's team event start list
- Ilia Malinin (USA)
- Stephen Gogolev (CAN)
- Matteo Rizzo (ITA)
- Nika Egadze (GEO)
- Shun Sato (JPN)
How the team event works
The team event requires considerable strategy, and Team USA's path to gold is still not 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 had 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. With all rosters now set, the race is on for Olympic hardware.