Figure skating at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games will be contested from Feb. 9-23, with medals awarded in five different events.
Sochi in review
2014 host nation Russia was the big winner on the ice, earning gold medals in three of the five medal events. Yevgeny Plushenko fronted a Russian squad that delivered gold in the inaugural team event, Tatyana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov won pairs gold in dominant fashion and Adelina Sotnikova won gold in women’s singles, narrowly edging South Korea’s Yuna Kim in a hotly contested competition.
Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White set two ice dancing world records in capturing their first Olympic gold medal. The duo also earned a bronze medal as part of the USA contingent in the team event, along with teammates Jeremy Abbott, Jason Brown, Ashley Wagner, Gracie Gold and the pairs team of Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir. All three American women in Sochi — Gold, Wagner and Polina Edmunds — finished in the top 10 of the ladies singles competition.
In the men’s singles competition, Yuzuru Hanyu delivered Japan’s first-ever men’s figure skating gold medal, beating Canada’s Patrick Chan and setting a world record in the short program in the process.
Competition format
Skaters will compete across the following five events, with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to the top three finishers, respectively, in each event:
- Men’s singles
- Ladies singles
- Pair skating
- Ice dancing
- Team event
Venue
All figure skating events will be held at the Gangneung Ice Arena, part of the Gangneung Olympic Park within the Gangneung coastal cluster. Constructed specifically for the 2018 Games, the arena will contain two rinks – one each for training and competition – and will also play host to the short track speed skating competition.
Athletes to watch
Men’s singles
Patrick Chan, Canada
Jin Boyang, China
Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan Shoma Uno, Japan
Denis Ten, Kazakhstan
Javier Fernandez, Spain
Jason Brown, United States Nathan Chen, United States Adam Rippon, United States
Women’s singles Mao Asada, Japan Satoko Miyahara, Japan
Evgenia Medvedeva, Russia Anna Pogorilaya, Russia Adelina Sotnikova, Russia Polina Edmunds, United States Gracie Gold, United States Mirai Nagasu, United States Ashley Wagner, United States
Pair Skating Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford, Canada Sui Wenjing / Han Cong, China
Aliona Savchenko / Bruno Massot, Germany Tatyana Volosozhar / Maksim Trankov, Russia Haven Denney / Brandon Frazier, United States Tarah Kayne / Daniel O’Shea, United States
Ice Dancing Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir, Canada Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje, Canada
Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron, France Madison Chock / Evan Bates, United States Meryl Davis / Charlie White, United States Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue, United States Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani, United States
(Note: Davis and White, the defending Olympic champions, have not competed since Sochi, but have not ruled out a return ahead of PyeongChang)