Among the first competitions in Beijing on Sunday is women’s figure skating, which kicks off with the short program in the team event. Karen Chen, the American skater who missed out on an Olympic bronze in 2018 when she wasn’t chosen to represent the United States in the team competition, is now getting her chance to medal in that event.
Chen, who nearly quit the sport after finishing 11th in the singles competition at the last Olympics, will undoubtedly feel pressure to perform better than ever as one of the 10 women competing in the short program (9:30 a.m. in Beijing; Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern).
The United States, which won bronze at the past two Winter Games, is leading the three-day team event in Beijing. On Friday, the first day of the team competition, American skaters who competed in their short programs all logged personal bests.
Nathan Chen, the gold medal favorite in the men’s singles, won; so did the ice dancers Madison Hubbell and Evan Bates. Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier finished third in pairs. Those strong finishes lifted the U.S. team into first place with 28 points, 2 points ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee. China is in third, with 21 points.
The Russians, though, could elbow aside the U.S. team on Sunday, particularly because their star skater, Kamila Valieva,will compete for their team. At 15, Valieva has set scoring record after scoring record going into these Games, and her mix of grace and athleticism is considered the best in the sport right now.
Once the women’s short program is over on Sunday, the top five countries in the standings will advance. The next phase of the event, the men’s free skate, is scheduled to begin at noon (11 p.m. Eastern). Vincent Zhou, a two-time Olympian, will skate for the United States. When he won Skate America in October, he became the first man since March 2018 to beat his U.S. teammate Nathan Chen, the three-time world champion.
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