US Olympic Figure Skating 2022: Full Schedule, Odds for Remaining Medal Events
After several days of controversy, Kamila Valieva will be on the ice Tuesday, when the women's figure skating event got underway with the short program at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The 15-year-old's presence greatly decreases the likelihood of the other women in the field winning the gold.
There had been some uncertainty surrounding whether Valieva would be allowed to participate in the women's event, as news broke following the team event that she had tested positive for a banned substance in December. She was cleared after the Court of Arbitration for Sport held a hearing to determine whether she could continue to compete in Beijing.
However, the International Olympic Committee announced that there won't be a medal ceremony for the women's figure skating event if Valieva finishes in the top three, which is practically a sure thing.
The women's and pairs events are the only figure skating competitions still to take place in Beijing. Here's a look at the schedule, followed by the odds for the top contenders.
Figure Skating Schedule
Tuesday, Feb. 15
Women's short program, 5 a.m. ET, USA Network
Thursday, Feb. 17
Women's free skate, 5 a.m. ET, USA Network
Friday, Feb. 18
Pairs short program, 5:30 a.m. ET, USA Network
Saturday, Feb. 19
Pairs free skate, 6 a.m. ET, USA Network
All events can be streamed on Peacock, the NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com.
Women's Top Odds
Kamila Valieva, Russian Olympic Committee: -715 (bet $715 to win $100)
Alexandra Trusova, Russian Olympic Committee: +650 (bet $100 to win $650)
Kaori Sakamoto, Japan: +1900
Alysa Liu, United States: +5000
Loena Hendrickx, Belgium: +5000
You Young, South Korea: +5000
It's not a surprise that Valieva is such an overwhelming favorite. She was expected to win the gold medal before the Games began, and her odds improved after she dominated the women's competitions during the team event, helping the Russian Olympic Committee capture the gold.
In the women's short program during the team event, Valieva had a score of 90.18 points. No other competitor had a score better than 74.73. Then in the free skate, Valieva scored 178.92 points, with nobody else posting better than 148.66.
Valieva continued to practice in recent days as she waited to find out whether she would be cleared to compete. According to Iain Axon, Karolos Grohmann and Joseph Campbell of Reuters, Valieva stated that her positive drug test was "caused by a mix-up with her grandfather's heart medication."
Now that she has been cleared to compete, there's a chance that the Russian Olympic Committee will sweep the podium for the women's event. Alexandra Trusova is likely going to win a medal, and there's also a chance that Anna Shcherbakova will place in the top three.
Kaori Sakamoto could prevent that from happening. The 21-year-old from Japan finished second in the women's free skate during the team event and could parlay the confidence from that performance into another strong showing in the individual competition. She placed sixth in the women's competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Of the three Americans competing in the women's event, Alysa Liu has the best odds to win a medal. Mariah Bell and Karen Chen will be in contention too, and any one of them could end up on the podium, although it would likely be in claiming the bronze.
Odds according to Oddschecker.
Pairs Top Odds
Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov, Russian Olympic Committee: +140
Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, China: +175
Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov, Russian Olympic Committee: +300
Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii, Russian Olympic Committee: +550
The Russian Olympic Committee won gold in the team event. And the team captured the silver in ice dancing thanks to Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov. Valieva is likely going to win the gold in the women's event. And the ROC should have more success in the pairs event to cap off the Winter Games.
Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov are the favorites to win the pairs gold medal heading into the event. During the team event, the duo placed second in the short program and first in the free skate, so it's clear why they are expected to fare well in the pairs competition.
As in the women's event, it's possible that the Russians will sweep the podium in the pairs competition. However, China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong have a good chance of preventing that from happening.
Sui and Han bested Mishina and Galliamov in the pairs short program during the team event, and they didn't participate in the pairs free skate. So not only do they have an opportunity to deny the ROC a podium sweep, but they could also prevent the team's best duo from winning the gold.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Sui and Han won the silver medal in the pairs event. In their homeland, perhaps they will go one better this time around.
It's highly likely that either Mishina and Galliamov or Sui and Han will win the pairs event. But with both duos likely to do well, it will be entertaining to see which pair the judges will give the edge to.
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