The United States claimed Olympic gold in the figure skating team event at the Milano Cortina Winter Games after a gripping three-day contest that went down to the very final skate. With the two countries giving it their all, the USA clinched gold over Japan by a single point.

Staged at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, the team event combines all four figure skating disciplines and showcases the strength of any country’s figure skating program, as well as strategic management of the various skaters before their upcoming individual events. 

The United States made an early statement during the opening event through ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates, whose rhythm dance delivered maximum points. As the gold metal favourites, they scored higher than French team Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, another pair tipped for the top of the podium in the individual event. That early advantage to the USA proved crucial. However, Japan responded swiftly in the pairs short program, with Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara producing a polished skate that brought the house down and scored five points higher than the following pair from Georgia, Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava.

Japan closed the gap further in the women’s short program, where Kaori Sakamoto’s assured performance topped the segment and opened her final ever Olympics with a truly special performance. Current World Champion Alysa Liu’s clean skate for the United States ensured her team retained the overall lead at the end of the first day, whilst Italy’s Lara Naki Gutmann pulled off one of her best short program skates this season.

On the second day, Yuma Kagiyama led the men’s short program with a technically secure skate that was artistically fantastic and – most crucially – clean in the face of an uncharacteristically nervy skate from US phenom Ilia Malinin.

With only the US, Japan, Georgia, Italy and Canada qualifying further (and South Korea, Great Britain, China, France and Poland not making the cut), the US stayed strong when Chock and Bates returned to the ice for the free dance. Their composed and commanding performance restored a small but vital points cushion for the Americans, while Italy’s Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri continued to delight home crowd and built Italian momentum with a superb skate that propelled the hosts into bronze-medal contention.

The final day began with the pairs free program, where the United States delivered one of their most important performances of the competition. Skating with control rather than excess risk, the American pair of Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea came in a crucial fourth, managing one of the best skates in their career. The Italians continued with their fight for bronze, but a wobble from Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii saw them scored three points less than the Georgian pair. The battle for the bronze was going strong.

The women’s free skate continued the title fight. Sakamoto once again led the field, earning Japan full points. Amber Glenn – after being on the end of much online abuse this week in the wake of her comments encouraging hope and togetherness – came in third behind Georgia’s Anastasia Gubanova. At 59 points for both Team USA and Team Japan, the pressure now fell solely on the men’s free skate to decide the gold medal.

In the closing event, Ilia Malinin still managed to pull of a win despite another imperfect skate, a reflection of how breathtakingly demanding and difficult his routines are even when he’s not at 100%. Japan’s Shun Sato did a skate he could be proud of, and was rewarded with a season’s best of 194.86. It might not have been the result he wanted, but he certainly won that hearts of many in attendance. In one of the most moving moments of the entire competition, Italy’s Matteo Rizzo pulled off a fantastic performance that sealed bronze for Italy in the face of Nika Egadze’s uneven skate that saw the current European champion end up fifth behind Canada’s Stephen Gogolev.

The United States finished with 69 points, Japan with 68, and Italy with 60, and what a dramatic final it was. For the Americans, it was a triumph built on early ice dance dominance, Kam & O’Shea performing when it mattered most, and a decisive final skate. For Japan, a stronger ice dance team might have seen them able to pip it over the Americans, but much hope can be held for the next Olympic cycle, when their young team of Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita will be even stronger. 

But before then: time for the individuals!