Chock and Bates lift Team USA; Sakamoto leads women’s short

Madison Chock and Evan Bates opened the Milano-Cortina team figure skating competition with a rhythm dance that set the tone for Team USA, posting a 91.06 and handing the Americans a narrow Day‑1 advantage. The Forum di Milano and the adjacent Milan Ice Arena became a cauldron of support as teammates and fans rallied, creating what the International Skating Union described as a crowd that “cheered on by the crowd and their teammates in the boxes to create a unique atmosphere.”

Chock and Bates’ performance, called a world-best score this season by observers, provided Team USA with critical early momentum and helped the United States finish the opening day with 25 team points. “Team USA is off to a great start,” Chock said, adding confidence in the squad: “We've got a ton of amazing athletes, so I have all the confidence in the world in them.” ISU officials and athletes stressed the camaraderie of the team format; Fournier Beaudry said, “We all skate with our hearts and we cheer each other on. We embrace the same journey, so it really brings us together.”

The Americans’ day was paced by that ice dance and punctuated by Alysa Liu’s dramatic women’s short program. Liu delivered a technically ambitious routine to Laufey’s “Promise,” scoring 74.90 for second place behind Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, who led the segment with 78.88. ISU reports noted Liu executed a triple flip and a triple Lutz–triple loop combination, with the loop slightly underrotated. Reflecting on the team format, Liu said, “I really loved doing the Team Event,” and described the Olympic experience as “a little different and really special” compared with last year’s World Team Trophy.

In pairs action, the top short belonged to Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, while U.S. pair Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea finished fifth. China’s 2022 Olympic champions Wenjing Sui and Cong Han struggled to sixth after two errors in their short program. Those results helped shape the standings after the first four segments: USA 25, Japan 23, Italy 22, Georgia 20, Canada 19, France 17, Korea 11, Great Britain 11, China 10, Poland 6.

The team event’s scoring ties placements in each segment to team points, first place earns 10 points, second 9, third 8, and so on, amplifying the value of depth and strategy across disciplines. The format rewards countries with multiple high-caliber athletes and creates broadcast-friendly narratives that package elite performances into a compact, medal-consequential storyline. The Americans enter with strong depth; they are widely seen as defending champions and favorites, a status shaped by the 2022 reallocation of team medals and the continued presence of top performers such as Liu and Ilia Malinin, who is slated to skate for the U.S. in the men’s short program.

The opening session also drew a high-profile political audience, including the U.S. vice-president and the secretary of state, underscoring the diplomatic and cultural heft of Olympic sport in a global capital. With the men’s short program set to begin Saturday at 1:45 p.m. ET and the competition cutting the field to five teams afterward, the next 24 hours will determine whether the Americans can convert their early edge into a place in the final free-skate segments and, ultimately, a shot at Olympic team gold.