Team USA secured a narrow lead over Japan in the Olympic Team Event on Friday, the first day of the Figure Skating competition at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. The USA collected 25 points while Japan has 23, and Italy follows in third on 22 points.

The Ice Dancers, Pairs and Women of the 10 teams delivered exciting performances at the Milan Ice Arena, cheered on by the crowd and their teammates in the boxes to create a unique atmosphere. 

Chock & Bates, Liu set the rhythm for Team USA

“The strategy is always to skate well,” team captain Danny O’Shea said. “I think that the U.S. team is very blessed, we have a lot of great options, and I think it will be a wonderful surprise to see what happens tomorrow. It's already been decided for an announcement for the U.S. that tomorrow it will be Ilia Malinin for the Short Program and Madison (Chock) and Evan (Bates) again for the Free Dance.”

Madison Chock & Evan Bates (pictured above, credit: Getty Images) set the rhythm for their team by coming first in the Rhythm Dance, securing 10 points. The three-time ISU World Champions’ precise and energetic performance to songs by Lenny Kravitz scored a season’s best of 91.06 points. 

"Team USA is off to a great start,” Chock said. “We've got a ton of amazing athletes, so I have all the confidence in the world in them."

Alysa Liu followed up with a strong Short Program to “Promise” that featured a triple flip and a triple Lutz-triple loop combination, but the loop was slightly underrotated. Liu scored 74.90 points, not far off her personal best and pocketed nine team points. 

“I really loved doing the Team Event,” Liu shared. ”I took part in the World Team Trophy last year, my very first team experience overall, but the Olympic team felt a little different and really special, though similar.”

Alysa Liu featured in Friday's Short Program in Milan © Getty Images

Ellie Kam & Danny O’Shea contributed six points by coming fifth in the Pairs Short Program with their elegant performance to “Hallelujah” (66.59 points).

Team Japan not far behind

Team Japan is only two points behind first place. 

“All the Japanese athletes are very strong, not just technically, mentally as well,” team captain Masaya Morita said. “The atmosphere today was very warm for the Japanese athletes. We could hear a lot of cheers and all our athletes enjoyed performing very much. Tomorrow, it’s going to be the Short Program of the Men and the Free Dance. We (ice dancers) have to do well and we want to enjoy the Men’s event, Yuma Kagiyama is going to skate," he continued.

Two-time ISU World Pairs Champions Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara picked up 10 points by winning the Pairs Short Program. 

Miura & Kihara turned in a passionate performance to “Paint It Black”, hitting the triple twist, triple toe and throw triple Lutz to set a new personal best of 82.84 points.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won Friday's Pair Short Program © Getty Images

“The Team Event was a lot of fun,” Miura said. “We really enjoyed skating as part of the team and sharing that experience together. The joint effort of every athlete is what makes it (the team) strong."

Three-time ISU World Champion Kaori Sakamoto kept the gold hopes of her team alive by winning the Women’s Short Program. The Japanese Champion turned in a perfect performance to “Time to Say Goodbye", which was highlighted by a triple flip-triple toe combo and her big double Axel, as well as excellent spins. Sakamoto netted 78.88 points. 

“We have been practicing at a camp in Italy, and everyone is in good condition right now,” Sakamoto said. “If we can keep our condition until the end, we have a very good chance of getting a gold medal.”

Utana Yoshida/Masaya Morito ranked eighth in the Rhythm Dance (three team points). 

Close battle between Italy and Georgia

The competition is really close between Italy and Georgia, with the Italians edging their opponents with 22 vs 20 points. 

“We are overjoyed,” team captain Sara Conti commented. “For the first time we are in one of the top position and I am overall very proud of our team. They did an excellent job. It’s been fantastic, there was a positive reaction from everyone. We are happy we got that far, we are all very close to each other.”

Pair Skaters Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii and Lara Naki Gutmann were the top scorers for Italy with eight points each for their third-place finishes in the Short Program. 

Skating to “The Wild Bull” and “Concerto de Espana” the two-time ISU World bronze medalists Conti & Macii produced a triple twist, triple Salchow and throw triple loop to score 76.65 points.

Reigning ISU European bronze medalist Gutmann gave a personal best performance to the soundtrack of “La Legge Di Lidia Poet” that included a triple toe-triple toe combination (71.62 points). 

“I had so many great feelings and I wanted to do the best performance I could do for myself, for my team, for Italy in this amazing stadium with my home crowd. So in the moment, it just felt great,” Gutmann noted. 

Three-time ISU European Champions Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri delivered an energetic Rhythm Dance to music by the Backstreet Boys to come fifth (83.54 points/six team points). 

Newly minted ISU European Champions Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava skated to second place in the Pairs Short Program with an excellent performance to “Bolero”, adding nine points to the team score.

“We have a very good chance to take a medal and we will do everything we can do to earn one,” Berulava said.

Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin finished sixth in the Rhythm Dance © Getty Images

2023 ISU European Champion Anastasiia Gubanova was fifth (six team points) while Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin placed sixth in the Rhythm Dance (five team points). 

Canada is sitting in fifth place with 19 points. Current ISU World silver medalists Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier and Canadian Champions Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud collected seven points each by finishing fourth in the Rhythm Dance and Pairs Short Program. 

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France were second in the Rhythm Dance © Getty Images

France came sixth on 17 points and will fight to get into the final of the top five teams. The French were led by ISU European Champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron, who were second in the Rhythm Dance with their characteristic performance to “Vogue” (89.98 points/nine team points). 

"We all skate with our hearts and we cheer each other on,” Fournier Beaudry said about competing in the Team Event. “We embrace the same journey, so it really brings us together."

The Republic of Korea, which has no Pairs team in the event, is currently ranked seventh (11 points), level with Great Britain (11 points), ahead of China (10 points) and Poland (six points). China’s 2022 Olympic Pairs Champions Wenjing Sui/Cong Han were sixth in the Pairs Short Program after two errors. 

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