The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics began and ended on a high for American figure skating, starting with a team event gold and rounding out with the now-viral Alysa Liu capturing the first individual women's title for the U.S. since 2002.

The U.S. entered these Games boasting one of the strongest contingents on record — with three of the four reigning world champions representing the red, white and blue.

The biggest name going in was Ilia Malinin. The phenom is the only skater capable of landing a quadruple Axel in competition and had been undefeated for well over two years prior to Milan Cortina. After cautious but sufficient performances in both the team event and the individual short program, Malinin had the worst skate of his senior career in the free skate, dropping to 8th place overall.

Also leaving Milan Cortina with bittersweet memories, Madison Chock and Evan Bates earned gold in the team event but took home silver in the individual ice dance category. The three-time world champions had hoped for a gold medal to cap their 15-year career together, however new French team Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron edged them off the top step of the podium by less than one-and-a-half points.

In pairs, both American teams performed at their max, most notably Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea in the team event, where their career-best free skate helped snag Team USA it's gold medal.

Along with Liu, Amber Glenn gave the Games another viral moment on Olympic ice. After a single error in the short program had her down in 13th place, she gave an outstanding performance in the free skate to leave Milan Cortina in 5th place.

RESULTS

The figure skating team event, first competed in 2014, allows skaters across all four disciplines to compete in national teams for a collective medal. Chosen by their national federations, athletes earn points within each segment of the competition, which are then tallied for a final score.

Team USA and Team Japan, who took home gold and silver in 2022, were once again head-to-head in Milan Cortina. Chock and Bates gave Team USA the early boost they needed, with 1st-place finishes in both the rhythm dance and free dance. Then in pairs, Kam and O'Shea added to the results table with a fabulous 4th place in the final, making up for some lost ground in the men's short program and women's events. 

Malinin skated conservatively in the team event, strategizing for the individual event to come. He earned 2nd in the short program, while Liu took a 2nd place in the women's short program and Glenn skated to 3rd place in the women's free skate. With Team USA one team point behind, Malinin came through to win the free skate and secure Team USA the gold.

The ice dance event started off with '90s energy in the rhythm dance, and concluded with happy tears, moments of disappointment and an all-too-familiar judging controversy.

Seven-time U.S. national champions, Chock and Bates had dominated all pre-Olympic season, cementing themselves as favorites for the individual gold after stellar performances in the team event just days earlier. So, when they stepped off the ice after the free dance following what they said was one of the all-time best outings of their long careers, it seemed like gold was theirs for the taking. But then the newly-formed French team of Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron took the ice. They skated a gorgeous free dance but made a few errors. Despite this they were still scored ahead of the Americans, maintaining the slim margin they'd taken in the rhythm dance. Focus immediately fell on the French judge who had scored Chock and Bates far below scores meted out by their colleagues. 

While calls for an inquiry gained thousands of signatures online, Chock and Bates ultimately opted not to contest the result.

It was Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier that gained the most heartwarming response after the free dance. In tears after the skate of their lives, the five-time national champions received a well-earned bronze medal following a tight battle with several teams, including home-favorites Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy.

Two other American ice dance teams competed in Milan, both displaying the bright future of the sport in the United States. After a breakout pre-Olympic season, Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik left their Olympic debut in a stunning 5th place. Further down the results table, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko posted an 11th-place finish — a strong foundation for the team to build on in seasons to come.

In one of the most talked about moments of the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, two-time world champion Malinin, considered a shoo-in for Olympic gold, fell to an unthinkable 8th-place finish after the free skate. Hyped as the "Quad God" thanks to his unparalleled skills on the ice, Malinin is the only figure skater capable of a quadruple Axel on competition ice, and he has been undefeated for over two years. But when it mattered most, his body failed him, and he fell not once, but twice, shocking fans and competitors. He has since spoken up about that moment and the pressure he felt throughout his Olympic debut.

The title went to an absolutely flabbergasted Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, who seemed unable to believe he had won gold — a first for his nation in the sport.

Earning his second consecutive Olympic silver medal, Japan's Yuma Kagiyama gave two highly skilled, but imperfect performances. To round out the men's podium, his teammate Shun Sato displayed just how deep the roster of talent is in Japan.

Americans Andrew Torgashev and Maxim Naumov each gave memorable performances. Togashev put out some of his best skating on Olympic ice, ultimately finishing in 12th place. Behind him in 20th, Naumov gave two emotional skates. He was in 14th in the short program with one of the performances of his life just one year after losing his parents in the American Airlines flight 5342 crash over Washington, DC.

Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara came out on top in the pairs event at the Milan Cortina Games. It was a dramatic ending to the event after the two-time world champions surged from a disappointing 5th place in the short program to win Japan's first Olympic gold (and first medal of any color) in the pairs figure skating event.

Behind them, Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava gave two strong performances for silver, while Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin dropped from 1st after the short to 3rd overall with just a few small errors.

For the United States, Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe gave two of their best performances to date, closing out their first Olympic Games in 7th, while teammates Kam and O'Shea dropped from 7th in the short program to a 9th-place finish after helping the U.S. win team event gold earlier in the Games.

Winning the first Olympic gold medal for the United States in 24 years, Liu brought the house down at the Milan Cortina Games. Her free skate to Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park" was as joyful as it was skillful, and she surged from 3rd after the short program to the top of the podium. It was one of the defining moments of the Olympics, and brought the U.S. a much sought-after gold in the individual figure skating events. 

She topped Japan's beloved three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto, who gave two outstanding performances for the silver medal, and 17-year-old Ami Nakai, who walked away with bronze in her debut season. 

Perhaps one of the most exciting performances of the women's event was Amber Glenn's free skate, in which she soared from a devastating 13th place, following a single error in the short program, to 5th place. She earned the highest technical score on the night, and 3rd place in the free skate, displaying perhaps one of the best examples of athletic resilience in the figure skating event.

Isabeau Levito, the 2024 world silver medalist and 2023 U.S. national champion, had a delightful Olympic debut but was ultimately placed in 12th when all was said and done. At 18 years old, she is likely to represent the future of women's figure skating in the U.S. for years to come.