The United States figure skating team made a strong showing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, winning three medals: gold in the team event, gold in women’s singles and silver in ice dance.
The team event victory marked the first time the United States has won Olympic gold in the discipline, beating Japan by one point.
Team USA’s roster included Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Ilia Malinin in singles, with Madison Chock and Evan Bates competing in ice dance and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea in pairs.
Malinin closed the competition for the United States with a gold medal performance in the men’s free skate. The 21-year-old, nicknamed the “Quad God,” scored 200.3 points to finish 5.17 points ahead of Japan’s Shun Sato. Malinin is known for pushing the technical limits of the sport, including becoming the first skater to successfully land a quadruple axel in competition, Olympics.com reported.
“I really went out there and just decided, ‘Okay, let the nerves down,’” Malinin said after the event reported by Golden Skate on Instagram. “I’m proud of myself and proud of my team for all the work they’ve put into this.”
Glenn also contributed to the team event with a third-place finish in the women’s free skate, scoring 138.62 points. Her performance placed her behind Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova and earned eight points for Team USA.
In pairs, Kam and O’Shea delivered a personal-best performance, scoring 135.36 points to finish fourth.
“In ice dance, Chock and Bates earned the silver medal with a final score of 224.39, finishing behind France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.
“The goal is the medal, but the dream is the feeling,” Chock said. “The Olympic dream is so strong because it’s so hopeful, and hope is so powerful.”
Chock and Bates have skated together since 2011, have competed across four Olympic cycles and were married in 2024. The pair won gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics after Russian competitors were disqualified and became the first American ice dance team since Charlie White and Meryl Davis in 2013 to win a world title when they captured the 2023 championship.
Liu delivered the most historic moment for the United States, winning gold in women’s singles with a total score of 226.79. Her victory made her the first American woman to win Olympic gold in the event since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
Liu had briefly retired in 2022 after finishing sixth at the Beijing Olympics at age 16. She returned to competition in 2024 and placed third at the 2025 World Championships before her Olympic breakthrough.
“I’m grateful for both Olympic experiences,” Liu said as reported by Golden Skate. “I feel like I’m more gracious now because I have things that I want to share, and I want to be here.”
Her win ended a four-Olympic-cycle medal drought for American women’s singles skaters and marked one of the highlights of Team USA’s performance in Milan-Cortina.
