US Olympic Figure Skating 2022: How America's Team Performed in Beijing
Entering the 2022 Winter Olympics, there hadn't been a United States figure skater to win a gold medal since 2014. That's when Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the ice dance gold in Sochi, Russia, before the Americans came away with no golds from the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
The drought was expected to end in 2022, because Nathan Chen headed to Beijing as the overwhelming favorite to win the gold in the men's figure skating event. And sure enough, the 22-year-old delivered.
Chen became the first American to win men's individual figure skating gold since Evan Lysacek in 2010. Chen was also the only U.S. figure skater to win gold at the 2022 Winter Games. However, there were still other strong performances by United States competitors in Beijing.
Here's a look back at all the figure skating medalists from the 2022 Winter Olympics, along with more on the United States performers at the Games.
Team Event
Gold: Russian Olympic Committee
Silver: United States
Bronze: Japan
The first figure skating competition to take place in Beijing was the team event, which features performances from the men, women, pairs and ice dancers. It takes a well-rounded team to win gold, so it wasn't a surprise that the Russian Olympic Committee ended up atop the medal stand.
The ROC's Kamila Valieva placed first in both the women's short program and women's free skate, while the Russians also got a first-place finish from Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov in the pairs free skate. The Russian Olympic Committee ended up with 74 team points, well ahead of the United States (65) and Japan (63).
Still, the U.S. had a strong showing in the team event, with Nathan Chen (men's short program), Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue (rhythm dance) and Madison Chock and Evan Bates (free dance) all placing first in their respective events. It was the first time the Americans had earned a silver in the team event—which was introduced at the 2014 Winter Games—as they won the bronze at the previous two Winter Olympics.
Men's Event
Gold: Nathan Chen, United States
Silver: Yuma Kagiyama, Japan
Bronze: Shoma Uno, Japan
Chen had a dominant performance, as he placed first in both the short program (113.97 points) and free skate (218.63). His short-program score was a new world record, and it gave him the lead heading into the free skate, during which he scored at least 16.7 more points than every other figure skater in the field.
It was Chen's first individual Olympic medal, as he placed fifth in the men's event at his only previous appearance at the Winter Games in 2018. But still only 22, he could experience plenty more Olympic success in the future.
The only other American to compete in the men's event this year was Jason Brown, who placed sixth. Vincent Zhou withdrew before the competition began after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Ice Dance Event
Gold: Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, France
Silver: Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, Russian Olympic Committee
Bronze: Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, United States
Entering the 2022 Winter Olympics, there had been an American duo to win a medal at each of the previous four Winter Games. Hubbell and Donohue extended that streak to five by capturing the bronze with a score of 218.02 total points (87.13 in short program and 130.89 in free program).
Team USA's Madison Chock and Evan Bates just missed out on a medal, as the pair placed fourth with a score of 214.77 total points. It was a solid showing, but it wasn't quite enough to get them on the podium.
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker were the third U.S. pair in the ice dancing field, and they ended up 11th.
Women's Event
Gold: Anna Shcherbakova, Russian Olympic Committee
Silver: Alexandra Trusova, Russian Olympic Committee
Bronze: Kaori Sakamoto, Japan
The biggest surprise in the women's event was that the ROC's Kamila Valieva didn't win a medal. She was in first place after the short program, in which she had a score of 82.16 points, but she fell to fourth after scoring 141.93 points in the free skate.
Still the Russian Olympic Committee claimed the top two spots on the medal stand because of Shcherbakova and Trusova. The top five places all belonged to figure skaters from the ROC and Japan.
Alysa Liu was the highest finishing U.S. figure skater, as she scored 208.95 total points and placed seventh. Mariah Bell ended up 10th, while Karen Chen placed 16th. There still hasn't been an American to medal in the women's individual figure skating event since Sasha Cohen won silver in 2006.
Pairs Event
Gold: Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, China
Silver: Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, Russian Olympic Committee
Bronze: Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov, Russian Olympic Committee
The Chinese duo of Sui and Han captured the gold after they previously won the silver in the pairs event in 2018. They outperformed the three pairs from the Russian Olympic Committee that placed second, third and fourth in the event.
The United States' Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier had a solid showing in the pairs competition, scoring 212.68 total points. However, that wasn't quite enough for them to earn a medal, as they placed sixth. That was the best showing by any U.S. duo.
The only other American pair to compete was Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, who placed eighth. There hasn't been a U.S. duo to medal in the pairs event since Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard earned the bronze in 1988.