• Two-time ISU World Champions Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara (JPN), pictured above, lead the field and impressed with personal best performances in the Team Event in the first week of these Games.
• Miura & Kihara scored a new personal best of 82.84 in the Team Event Short Program and won silver with the Japan team.
• Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii (ITA) are the current ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalists and have a season’s best of 77.22 points in the Short Program. They won bronze in the Team Event here in Milan.

Home hopes Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii won bronze in the Team Event in Milan © Getty Images

• 2026 ISU European Champions Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava (GEO) have been on the rise this season and looked strong in the Team Event, scoring a season’s and personal best 78.83 points.
• Reigning ISU World silver medalists Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin (GER) come to Milan with a season’s and personal best of 77.61 points.
• 2022 Olympic Champions Wenjing Sui & Cong Han (CHN) are back but had a disappointing Short Program in the Team Event (season’s best 76.02 points).

Olympic Champions Wenjing Sui & Cong Han (CHN) return to defend their title © Getty Images

• Other contenders to watch include 2026 ISU European bronze medalists Maria Pavlova & Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN).
• The 2024 ISU World Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps (CAN) missed the Team Event as Stellato-Dudek suffered an injury in a practice accident at home in Canada. She has since been medically cleared to compete and has arrived in Milan.

• A total of 19 Pairs representing 14 NOCs are taking part in the event. 
• The top 16 Pairs after the Short Program advance to the Free Skating on Monday, February 16.
• The highest score in the Pairs Short Program is currently 84.41 points, set by Sui & Han at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games on their way to gold.
• Sui & Han are the only returning medalists from the Beijing Games.
• Japan, Italy and Georgia have yet to win an Olympic medal in Pair Skating (as an individual event).