#figure-skating

#figure-skating

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.

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.

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.

Looking ahead to Day 5, Canada has a good shot at its first Olympic figure skating medal since 2018. Plus, two of the Games' marquee events, men's hockey and men's curling, get underway. So let's get into all that and some other interesting stuff, including another Olympic flop by American alpine star Mikaela Shiffrin, and a biathlon skier who decided to tell the world he cheated on his girlfriend.

Every two years, I think I'll take up an Olympic sport.

Shiffrin will ski for the first time at this Olympics in the women's team combined event, which is making its Olympic debut. She will ski a slalom run, and teammate Breezy Johnson -- who won gold in downhill Sunday -- will ski a downhill run. The pair won the world title in this event last year. Team USA will take on longtime rival Canada in women's hockey with both sides so far undefeated in Milan.

Fifteen-year-old Kamila Valieva, the gold medal favorite, was caught taking a banned substance, but allowed to compete anyway, pending an investigation. Under immense scrutiny, Valieva had an uncharacteristic meltdown in her free skate, missing the podium altogether. Leaving the ice, she was berated by her coach, Eteri Tutberidze, who left her fellow student, Anna Shcherbakova, alone in the "kiss and cry" to celebrate with no one. It was a spectacle that I hated watching.