2022 Winter Olympics: Team Event Overview
SYWTW FS
The figure skating competitions of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics kicks off today with the Figure Skating Team Event! While skating is normally a solo (or paired) sport, the Figure Skating Team Event was introduced in the 2014 Sochi Olympics; now countries have the opportunity to bring together their strongest skaters to fight for Olympic gold. Read on for an overview of the competition format and the teams competing at this Olympics!
See also: 2022 Winter Olympics Info & Streaming for information on how to watch!
COMPETITION FORMAT
The Team Event will take place over 3 days, and involve all 4 figure skating disciplines of men’s singles, women’s singles, pairs, and ice dance.
Feb. 4: Men’s SP, Rhythm Dance, Pairs’ SP
Feb. 6: Women’s SP, Men’s FS
Feb. 7: Pairs’ FS, Free Dance, Women’s FS
Countries qualify for the Olympic Team Event based on the World Standing points that their skaters earned at various competitions throughout the season. A maximum of 10 countries can qualify for the Team Event. Countries must qualify skaters in at least 3 individual Olympic disciplines in order to be eligible for the Team Event. If a country has skaters in 3 individual disciplines, they can bring in a 4th skater to complete their team. The additional skater can only compete in the Team Event.
Scoring in the Team Event is based on skaters’ placements in both the short program and free skate segments of the competition. After all short programs are complete, the top 5 teams with the highest point totals advance to the free skate. The following chart shows how many points each placement earns:
| Placement | SP Points | FS Points |
|---|---|---|
Points for each team are added together as their skaters complete each segment, and the team with the highest final point total wins.
If there is a tie in points, these are the criteria used to break the tie, in order:
The highest aggregate Team points per Team from the two (2) best places in different disciplines
The highest total sum of the segment/total scores of the two (2) skaters/couples who build the tie
The highest aggregate Team points per Team from the three (3) best places in different disciplines
The highest total sum of the segment/total scores of the three (3) skaters/couples who build the tie
If these criteria fail to break the ties, the Teams will be considered tied.
Since scoring for the Team Event is based on placements, and not skaters’ scores for their programs, all disciplines are weighted equally, and the margin by which skaters outscore other skaters does not matter.
Teams that have qualified more than one skater in an individual discipline can substitute their entry between the short program and free skate of the Team Event, in up to two disciplines. This is where the strategy comes in - which skaters are better at which segment? Which disciplines should be split, if any? Could skating in the Team Event affect the skaters’ performance in their individual events? (This is especially an issue to consider for the men, as their individual events begin the day after the Team Event ends.)
Additionally, due to the point distribution, the short program is the more vital segment - since a skater can earn from 10 points all the way down to 1 point in the short program, a big mistake in the short program can cost their team many more points than a big mistake in the free skate. Even a last-place free skate will still earn 6 points. Teams with the ability to split their entries between the SP and FS will be thinking very hard about which of their skaters are more reliable in the short program.
The entries for each segment of the Team Event will not be announced until a short time before the segments begin.
PREVIEW
The 10 countries that have qualified for the Team Event are:
Russia
USA
Canada
Japan
Italy
China
Georgia
Germany
Czech Republic
Ukraine
Russia(n Olympic Committee):
Men: Mark Kondratiuk (SP), Andrei Mozalev (?), Evgeni Semenenko (?)
Women: Kamila Valieva (SP), Anna Shcherbakova (?), Alexandra Trusova (?)
Pairs: Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov (SP), Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov (not participating), Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii (?)
Ice Dance: Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (RD, FD), Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin (not participating), Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin (not participating)
Russia (or the Russian Olympic Committee, as they will be called during these Games) are the heavy favorites for gold in the Team Event. Their strongest disciplines are women, pairs, and ice dance, where they are expected to place within the top 2 in each segment (free dance entry pending). While their men are more volatile, they are still capable of a high placement in each segment. Although anything is possible, ROC will need to make several mistakes to not win the gold medal. ROC has multiple options to split between the SP and FS, and it will be interesting to see who they choose.
USA
Men: Nathan Chen (SP), Vincent Zhou (?), Jason Brown (?)
Women: Karen Chen (SP, FS), Mariah Bell (not participating), Alysa Liu (not participating)
Pairs: Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier (SP, FS), Ashley Cain-Gribble/Timothy Leduc (not participating)
Ice Dance: Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (RD), Madison Chock/Evan Bates (FD), Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean Luc Baker (not participating)
The United States comes into the event as favorites for silver, though it is not guaranteed. Their strongest disciplines are men and ice dance, while their pairs and women are weaker, but still capable of decent placements in the top half of the standings. USA will very likely split their men’s and ice dance disciplines between the SP and FS.
Canada
Men: Roman Sadovsky (SP, FS), Keegan Messing (not participating)
Women: Madeline Schizas (SP, FS)
Pairs: Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro (SP), Vanessa James/Eric Radford (?)
Ice Dance: Piper Gilles/Paul Poirer (RD, FD), Laurence Fournier-Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen (not participating), Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha (not participating)
Olympic Team Event champions four years ago, Canada has struggled in this Olympic cycle after the retirement of many of their top skaters. Their team this year has some veterans as well as newbies. While it will be difficult for Canada to make the team podium this time, they still have a chance of qualifying for the free skate portion against Italy, Georgia, and China. Ice dance is Canada’s strongest discipline. Keegan Messing, Canada’s top man, will not make it to the Team Event due to a positive COVID test.
Japan
Men: Shoma Uno (SP), Yuma Kagiyama (FS), Yuzuru Hanyu (not participating)
Women: Wakaba Higuchi (SP), Kaori Sakamoto (FS), Mana Kawabe (not participating)
Pairs: Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (SP, FS)
Ice Dance: Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto (RD, FD)
Japan has been a singles powerhouse for years, but have always been held back in the Team Event by their weaker pairs and dance teams. This year, the rise of Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara in the pairs discipline gives Japan their best shot at winning a Team Event medal, likely bronze. Ice dance is still their biggest weakness, so Japan will need their other three disciplines to perform as well as possible to win a place on the podium. If they medal, it will be the first time that a country besides Russia, USA and Canada have medaled at the Olympic Team Event. Japan will likely split their men’s and women’s disciplines between the SP and FS.
Italy
Men: Daniel Grassl (SP), Matteo Rizzo (?)
Women: Lara Naki Gutmann (SP, FS)
Pairs: Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise (SP), Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini (?)
Ice Dance: Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (RD, FD)
Italy’s strongest disciplines are men and ice dance. Guignard/Fabbri are capable of placing in the top 4, while Daniel Grassl may pull an upset - or bomb - during the men’s event. Italy will fight with Canada, China, and Georgia to qualify for the free skates.
China
Men: Boyang Jin (SP, FS)
Women: Yi Zhu (SP, FS)
Pairs: Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (SP), Cheng Peng/Yang Jin (?)
Ice Dance: Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu (RD, FD)
China’s strongest discipline is pairs, where Wenjing Sui/Cong Han are one of the contenders for Olympic gold in the individual event. Boyang Jin may also disrupt the standings depending on his performance - wildly inconsistent, he may place top 3 or last. China will be fighting with Canada, Italy, and Georgia to qualify for the free skate portion.
Georgia
Men: Morisi Kvitelashvili (SP, FS)
Women: Anastasiia Gubanova (SP, FS)
Pairs: Karina Safina/Luka Berulava (SP, FS)
Ice Dance: Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya (RD, FD)
Despite being a little-known country in figure skating, Georgia has assembled a strong team of formerly-Russian skaters for the Olympic season and qualified for the Team Event. They will battle China, Italy, and Canada for a place in the free skate segment. Even if they will not win a medal, some of their skaters may pull surprising upsets over others and throw a wrench in the standings.
Germany
Men: Paul Fentz (SP)
Women: Nicole Schott (SP)
Pairs: Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nolan Seegert (SP) *withdrawn because of positive COVID test
Ice Dance: Katharina Mueller/Tim Dieck (RD)
Due to the withdrawal of Hase/Seegert from the SP after a positive COVID test, Germany will not be able to earn any points in the pairs segment and likely will not advance to the free skate.
Czech Republic
Men: Michal Brezina (SP, FS)
Women: Eliska Brezinova (SP, FS)
Pairs: Jelizaveta Zukova/Martin Bidar (SP, FS)
Ice Dance: Natalie Taschlerova/Filip Taschler (RD, FD)
Czech Republic will likely not qualify for the free skates, but keep an eye out for the performances of siblings Michal Brezina and Eliska Brezinova in singles, and Taschlerova/Taschler in ice dance.
Ukraine
Men: Ivan Shmuratko (SP) *withdrawn because of positive COVID test
Women: Anastasiia Shabotova (SP)
Pairs: Sofiia Holichenko/Artem Darenskyi (SP)
Ice Dance: Oleksandra Nazarova/Maksym Nikitin (RD)
Due to the withdrawal of Ivan Shmuratko from the SP after a positive COVID test, Ukraine will not be able to earn any points in the men’s segment and likely will not advance to the free skate.