Olympic Figure Skating Results 2022: ROC Wins Team Overall Gold; USA Earns Silver
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) took home the gold medal in the figure skating team event at the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The ROC scored a total of 74 points for its second-ever victory in the team event.
The United States won the silver medal with 65 points, and Japan was awarded bronze with 63 points.
15-year-old Kamila Valieva's win in the women's free skate closed the night and wrapped up the win for the ROC. Valieva overcame a fall in the middle of her run and scored 178.92 with a history-making performance:
Five countries were competing for spots on the podium on Sunday night. The ROC entered the day leading with 45 points followed by the United States with 42 points. Japan was third with 39 points, and Canada (30) and China (29) rounded out the top five.
The night started with the pair free skate, won by Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov with a score of 145.20 to give the ROC 10 early points. Mishina and Galliamov had a scary fall near the end of their run but still impressed enough to earn the top score.
Team USA's Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier finished last with 128.97, which widened the gap with the ROC and added more pressure for the next two events.
The free dance was next, and the pair of Madison Chock and Evan Bates delivered for the United States with a big win.
Chock and Bates' score of 129.07 slightly edged the 128.17 by the ROC's Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, the reigning world champions. But the nine points they earned were enough to virtually wrap up the win for the ROC before the final event.
In the women's free skate, 22-year-old Karen Chen solidified the second-place finish for the United States, scoring 131.52 with a strong performance that made up for her struggles in her earlier run in the short program.
It's just the third figure skating team event at the Winter Olympics since it was implemented in 2014. Russia won that year, with Canada taking silver and USA finishing third. In 2018, Canada took gold, followed by Olympic Athletes from Russia and USA once again in third.
Next up will be the individual figure skating events, beginning with the men's short program on Monday night.
