#figure-skating

#figure-skating

The NBC Saturday primetime broadcast used the figure skating exhibition gala as a way to provide a curtain call for their appointed Olympic protagonists. Of the five segments they aired from the event, four of them put Americans in the spotlight. Amber Glenn gave a fierce performance that further emphasized her comeback from a disappointing short program. Alysa Liu skated a victory lap after her instantly iconic gold medal-winning free skate.

In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto in London. In 1885, President Chester Arthur dedicated the Washington Monument. In 1911, composer Gustav Mahler, despite a fever, conducted the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in what turned out to be his final concert. (He died the following May.) In 1916, the Battle of Verdun, the longest battle of World War I, began in northeastern France.

No athlete at this level is 100% fully healthy, Gretchen Mohney, the director of medical and performance services for U.S. Figure Skating, told The Associated Press from Milan. It's about managing whatever it is that may be breaking down. The key for Olympic skaters is getting quick treatment. If a knee swells, the back aches or a sharp blade leaves a gash, figure skaters at the Olympics have physicians, athletic trainers and physical therapists to help.

Isabeau Levito is famous for her balletic elegance on the ice. Her skating style is markedly lyrical; according to NBC's Olympics website, "Unlike many skaters who rely heavily on high-difficulty jumps, Levito balances technical ability with musical interpretation." She is known "for her ability to connect with audiences through subtle emotional storytelling." At only 18, 2026 marks Isabeau's first Olympic Games.

When women take the ice for Thursday's Olympic free skate in the global fashion capital of Milan, five skaters will compete in dresses made by Los Angeles-based designer Lisa McKinnon. McKinnon has become the must-have name in figure skating couture, dressing the entirety of the U.S. and South Korea women's teams. Americans Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito wore McKinnon's designs in the short program and will do so again in the free skate.

Karina Manta and Joe Johnson spent five years as ice dance partners on Team USA before retiring from competition in 2019. They then travelled with Cirque du Soleil's ice show and competed as pros on the UK television show, Dancing on Ice. Now, the pair coach at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink. The duo may have met on the ice, but their close friendship has remained constant since they first met thirteen years ago.

I feel like I'm dreaming, Nakai said. I just tried to stay in my skate, and have a good time for the rest of the skate. The Americans push me with their difficult jumps, including the triple axel. But at the same time, they're all very nice people, so I just want to enjoy my time with them on the ice.

In 2014, rule changes established by the International Skating Union (ISU) and taking effect after the Sochi Winter Olympics allowed figure skaters to perform their routines to background music containing sung vocals, taking the sport out of the realm of classical music and creating opportunities to use contemporary music with lyrics. In Milan Cortina, several figure skaters performing their routine without any music clearance issues for months suddenly faced legal issues leading up to the Games.

Courtney Sarault of Moncton, N.B., finishes second in the women's 1,000-metre short track speed skating final for her third medal at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games. Sarault won bronze in the 500-metre and silver in the mixed relay. Courtney Sarault captures silver in the women's 1,000-metre short track. Beset by double-touching accusations, Canadian men's and women's curling teams play three matches today.

The 24-year-old Naumov finished his Winter Games debut with an emotional free skate Friday night, just over a year after Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among 67 people killed when American Airlines Flight 5342 crashed into a military helicopter on approach to Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., and fell into the dark depths of the Potomac River.

On Wednesday in Milan, French figure-skaters Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron narrowly won gold in their first Olympics as an ice-dancing pair. When the final scores came down, American figure skating fans cried out with one voice: Madison Chock and Evan Bates got screwed! This hue and cry might seem like predictable patriotic grumbling. Yes, the beloved U.S. duo, who lost out on gold by a measly 1.43 points, skated a scintillating toreador-themed free dance.

Ilia Malinin keeps teasing fans at the Milan Cortina Olympics by submitting program plans that have the American figure skating star attempting the quad axel, a 4 1/2-revolution jump so difficult nobody but him has ever landed it in competition. Ilia Malinin of the United States competes during the figure skating men's team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) Yet through two programs in the gold medal-winning team event and his individual short program Tuesday night, the Quad God has yet to attempt the hardest quadruple jump of all, opting instead for the safer triple axel everyone else is doing.

It was a banner day for Team France on February 11, 2026, at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. In the women's 15km individual biathlon, Julia Simon claimed gold ahead of teammate Lou Jeanmonnot, who took silver. In moguls, Perrine Laffont grabbed bronze, eight years after her PyeongChang triumph. The highlight came on the ice, where Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won Olympic gold in figure skating.

Even in sports that do not literally hand out points for style, the matter of aesthetic value is of discursive import. The most dominant athlete or team in the world can be taken down a peg or two on the moral underpinnings of play style. There are hoops (ethical) and hoops (unethical). You can win, but what is it worth if you do not win beautifully? You can lose, but at least you suffered beautifully when it counted.