What in the World is the Olympic Figure Skating Team Event?

We’ve been getting some asks about this, so here are all your burning questions, answered! Remember to check out our info post for details on how to watch the Olympic figure skating competitions.

What is the background of the Team Event?

First introduced at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, the Figure Skating Team Event is still a relatively new addition to the Olympics, and doesn’t hold quite as much prestige as the individual events - yet. Since the Team Event takes place before the individual events, some top skaters will decide not to compete in both (or either) segments of the Team Event, in order to save their strength for the individual events. However, the existence of the Team Event encourages skating federations to develop all four of their disciplines - men’s singles, ladies’ singles, pair skating, and ice dance - because strength in all disciplines is absolutely necessary in order to have a chance at an Olympic team medal.

How is the Team Event scored?

10 countries compete in the short program in ladies’ singles, men’s singles, pairs, and ice dance. Each country is represented in each discipline by one skater or pair/dance team. Performances are scored normally, like in any figure skating competition. Skaters earn points for their placement in the short program:

• 1st place: 10 points

• 2nd place: 9 points

• 3rd place: 8 points

• 4th place: 7 points

• 5th place: 6 points

• 6th place: 5 points

• 7th place: 4 points

• 8th place: 3 points

• 9th place: 2 points

• 10th place: 1 point

After the short programs of all four disciplines have been completed, the top 5 countries in terms of point totals advance to the free skate. The format of the free skate is the same as the short program: Each country is represented by one skater/team per discipline. Skaters earn points for their placement in the free skate, starting from 10 points for first place, down to 6 points for 5th place. The point total after the free skates determines the final ranking. (For a chart of results from the 2014 Olympic Team Event, see here.)

What if there’s a tie between teams?

Tie-breaking rules are explained here.

Which countries have qualified for the 2018 Olympic Team Event?

In order of qualification: Canada, OAR (Russia), USA, Japan, China, Italy, France, Germany, Israel, South Korea.

Which skaters are allowed to participate in the Team Event?

Skaters who participate in the Team Event must have qualified for the individual events, unless a country qualified skaters in only 3 individual events. In that case, they are allowed to bring in one “extra” skater to complete their team, who only competes in the Team Event. For example, Israel qualified skaters in the individual events of men’s singles, pair skating, and ice dance, but not ladies’ singles. For the Team Event only, they can bring in a ladies’ skater to complete their team.

How does “substitution” work?

If a country has qualified more than one skater in an individual discipline, they may choose to switch skaters between the short program and free skate of the Team Event, but only in two disciplines. For example, in Pyeongchang, Team USA qualified 3 men, 3 ladies, 3 ice dance teams, and 1 pair team in the individual events. USA can choose to split two of the disciplines in which they have more than one skater between the Team Event SP and FS, but since they only have 1 pair team, that pair team must compete in both the SP and FS of the Team Event. Here is where some strategy is involved - which disciplines should be split, which skaters should do which segment, and so on.

Do skaters perform the same programs in the Team Event as in the individual events?

Yes, but their jump layouts might be slightly different.

What is the schedule for the Team Event?

The schedule and information on how to watch is covered in this post.

What are your predictions for the Team Event?

We can tell you right now that, barring major disasters, the Team Event podium will consist of Canada, OAR/Russia, and USA, in some order. The simple fact is that none of the other countries are as well-rounded in each discipline as these three. It would be a huge upset if any other country managed to win a team medal. More interesting than the podium is the battle for gold, and which 5 countries out of the 10 competing will be able to qualify for the free skate. Japan, Italy, France, and possibly China have a shot at qualifying for the free skate, depending on which skaters participate in the Team Event.

Which specific skaters will skate for their countries in the Team Event?

We don’t know yet. A list of potential skaters for the Team Event can be seen here. The exact lineups will not be announced until the day of the competition.

Can you tell me about some of the skaters in the Team Event?

Since we don’t find out who will actually skate in the Team Event until the last minute, it’s a little hard to write intros for the skaters there. Time willing, we will try to write previews for the individual events, where we will be able to give more in-depth info about the competitors.

2018 Winter Olympics: Info & Streaming

It’s here, folks, the event we’ve been anticipating for months - the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea will begin on February 9th with the Figure Skating Team Event! Here’s how you can watch the figure skating competitions online. Please be aware that we are not responsible for any of these streams, we only provide the links. We will not list every broadcast in every single country, only enough so that most people have options to watch. Please see here for a full list of official Olympic broadcasters. Some broadcast schedules in this post are still incomplete; more information will be added as it appears.

Live results | Detailed schedule | Website | ISU + Official entries

SCHEDULE

Korean Standard Time, UTC+9. Click on the links for time conversions, or see here for a table (thanks to @mirrorhands on twitter!)

Opening Ceremony: Feb. 9, 20:00

Team Event:

Feb. 9

• Team Men’s SP 10:00-11:22

• Team Pairs’ SP 11:45-13:29

Feb. 11

• Team Short Dance 10:00-11:19

• Team Ladies’ SP 11:45-13:06

• Team Pairs’ FS 13:40-14:36

Feb. 12

• Team Men’s FS 10:00-10:49

• Team Ladies’ FS 11:10-11:58

• Team Free Dance 12:20-13:06

Individual Events:

• Feb. 14:Pairs’ SP 10:00-13:41

• Feb. 15:Pairs’ FS 10:30-13:29

• Feb. 16:Men’s SP 10:00-14:28

• Feb. 17:Men’s FS 10:00-14:07

• Feb. 19:Short Dance 10:00-13:43

• Feb. 20:Free Dance 10:00-13:20

• Feb. 21:Ladies’ SP 10:00-14:28

• Feb. 23:Ladies’ FS 10:00-13:55

• Feb. 25:Gala 09:30-12:00

Closing Ceremony: Feb. 25, 20:00

HOW TO WATCH

Many live streams for the Olympics are geoblocked to their respective countries. Although some non-blocked streams are available online, if your country does not have official streams and you would like to access other countries’ high quality streams and replays, we recommend buying a subscription for a VPN. A few recommendations for VPNs: Setup VPN (free), PureVPN, NordVPN, TunnelBear, ExpressVPN. Some VPN services offer a free trial period. Please do some research of your own to find VPNs that work best for you.

Fan streams: These fan-run streams may or may not livestream the competition: FS Live, QQ Live. Check the streams when the events are on. The streams should be available worldwide.

Stream2Watch.org: Free, unblocked streams for the Winter Olympics are available here.

NBC: USA’s NBC will stream all of the figure skating events live online, including some training sessions and backstage coverage. Sign-in with a TV provider is required. All live stream links for figure skating are available here. NBC will also livestream the opening ceremony and closing ceremony. All streams are blocked outside of the USA. NBC and NBCSN will air parts of the competition live on TV, along with other sports. TV broadcast schedule in EST:

• 2/8: Team Men’s & Pairs’ SP 8:00PM (live, NBC)

• 2/10: Team Short Dance, Ladies’ SP & Pairs’ FS 8:00PM (live, NBC)

• 2/11: Team Men’s FS, Ladies’ FS & Free Dance 7:00PM (live, NBC)

• 2/13: Pairs’ SP 8:00PM (live, NBC & NBCSN)

• 2/14: Pairs’ FS 8:00PM (live, NBC & NBCSN)

• 2/15: Men’s SP 8:00PM (live, NBC & NBCSN)

• 2/16: Men’s FS 8:00PM (live, NBC & NBCSN)

• 2/18: Short Dance 8:00PM (live, NBC & NBCSN)

• 2/19: Free Dance 8:00PM (live, NBC & NBCSN)

• 2/20: Ladies’ SP 8:00PM (live, NBC & NBCSN)

• 2/22: Ladies’ FS 8:00PM (live, NBC & NBCSN)

• 2/24: Gala 8:00PM (live, NBC)

• Unblocked NBC TV streams:Stream 1, Stream 2, Stream 3

• Unblocked NBCSN TV streams:Stream 1

CBC: Canada’s CBC will stream all of the figure skating events live online. Links to livestreams are available here. The streams are blocked outside of Canada. It is not required to sign in with a TV provider. CBC will air primetime TV coverage of figure skating, as well as other sports, starting at approximately 7:00PM EST every night.

Eurosport Player: Viewers in Europe can subscribe to Eurosport Player to watch the Pyeongchang Olympics live. Eurosport Player is only available in European countries that have Eurosport.

Telesport: Russia’s Telesport will livestream the Olympics. The streams are blocked outside of Russia.

Match Arena: Russia’s Match Arena will air most of the figure skating events live. Broadcast schedule in Moscow Time:

• 2/9: Team Men’s SP 03:55 (live); Team Pairs’ SP 05:45 (live); Opening Ceremony 14:00 (live)

• 2/11: Team Short Dance 03:55 (live); Team Ladies’ SP 05:45 (live); Team Pairs’ FS 07:40 (live)

• 2/12: Team Men’s FS 03:55 (live); Team Ladies’ FS 05:10 (live); Team Free Dance 06:20 (live)

• 2/14: Pairs’ SP 03:55 (live)

• 2/15: Pairs’ FS 04:25 (live)

• 2/16: Men’s SP 03:55 (live)

• 2/17: Men’s FS 03:55 (live)

• 2/19: Short Dance 03:55 (live)

• 2/20: Free Dance 03:55 (live)

• 2/21: Ladies’ SP 03:55 (live)

• 2/23: Ladies’ FS 03:55 (live)

• 2/25: Gala 03:25 (live)

• Unblocked streams:Stream 1, Stream 2, Stream 3, Stream 4, Stream 5, Stream 6

British Eurosport:British Eurosport 1 will air parts of the figure skating competition live on TV. Other Eurosport channels may have different schedules; check your local Eurosport schedules to make sure. Broadcast schedule in GMT:

• 2/9: Team Men’s SP 01:00 (live); Team Pairs’ SP 02:30 (live); Opening Ceremony 10:30 (live)

• 2/11: Team Ladies’ SP 03:30 (live); Team Short Dance 04:15 (live); Team Pairs’ FS 04:45 (live)

• 2/12: Team Ladies’ FS 02:45 (live); Team Free Dance 03:15 (live)

• 2/14: Pairs’ SP 03:00 (live 2 hrs in)

• 2/15: Pairs’ FS 03:30 (live 2 hrs in)

• 2/16: Men’s SP 04:00 (live 3 hrs in)

• 2/23: Ladies’ FS 03:30 (live 2 hrs 30 min in)

• More broadcast times TBA.

• Unblocked streams:Stream 1, Stream 2, Stream 3, Stream 4

France TV: France TV will livestream all of the figure skating events. Streams are available here. They are blocked outside of France. It is not required to sign in with a TV provider.

YLE: Finland’s YLE will stream all of the figure skating events live. These streams are blocked outside of Finland. It is not required to sign in with a TV provider. Stream links and schedule in EET:

• 2/9:Team Men’s & Pairs’ SP 02:55; Opening Ceremony 12:55

• 2/11:Team Short Dance, Ladies’ SP & Pairs’ FS 02:55

• 2/12:Team Men’s FS, Ladies’ FS & Free Dance 02:55

• 2/14:Pairs’ SP 02:55

• 2/15:Pairs’ FS 03:25

• 2/16:Men’s SP 02:55

• 2/17:Men’s FS 02:55

• 2/19:Short Dance 02:55

• 2/20:Free Dance 02:55

• 2/21:Ladies’ SP Part 1 02:55; Ladies’ SP Part 2 04:40

• 2/23:Ladies’ FS Part 1 02:55; Ladies’ FS Part 2 05:00

• 2/25:Gala 02:25; Closing Ceremony 13:00

CCTV 5: China’s CCTV 5 will livestream the figure skating competitions. Links to streams are available here. The streams are blocked outside of China.

SBS: South Korea’s SBS will air some of the figure skating events live, along with other sports. Broadcast schedule in KST:

• 2/9: Team Men’s SP 10:00 (live); Team Pairs’ SP 11:50 (live); Opening Ceremony 20:00 (live)

• 2/11: Team Short Dance 10:00 (live); Team Ladies’ SP 11:50 (live)

• 2/12: Team Men’s & Ladies’ FS 10:00 (live); Team Free Dance 12:25 (live)

• 2/14: Pairs’ SP 10:00 (live)

• 2/15: Pairs’ FS 10:30 (live)

• 2/16: Men’s SP 10:00 (live)

• 2/17: Men’s FS 10:00 (live)

• More broadcast times TBA.

• Unblocked streams:Stream 1, Stream 2, Stream 3, Stream 4, Stream 5

NHK: Japan’s NHK channels will air most of the figure skating events live. Streams are available for members of NHK On Demand, restricted to Japan. Broadcast schedule in JST:

• 2/9: Team Men’s & Pairs’ SP 09:50 (live, NHKBS1); Opening Ceremony 20:00 (live, NHKG)

• 2/11: Team Short Dance 09:50 (live, NHKBS1); Team Ladies’ SP & Pairs’ FS 13:10 (live, NHKBS1)

• 2/12: Team Men’s FS 09:50 (live, NHKG); Team Ladies’ FS & Free Dance 12:15 (live, NHKG)

• 2/15: Pairs’ SP 00:30 (taped, NHKBS1); Pairs’ FS 10:20 (live, NHKBS1)

• 2/16: Men’s SP 09:50 (live, NHKBS1)

• 2/17: Men’s FS 09:50 (live, NHKG)

• 2/19: Short Dance 12:00 (live 2 hrs in, NHKBS1)

• 2/20: Free Dance 11:50 (live 1 hr 50 min in, NHKBS1)

• 2/21: Ladies’ SP 09:30 (live, NHKG)

• 2/23: Ladies’ FS 09:50 (live, NHKBS1)

• 2/25: Gala 12:40 (taped, NHKBS1); Closing Ceremony 21:00 (live 1 hr in, NHKG)

Other TV channels: Many other broadcasters will also air and/or stream the Olympics. See here for an official list of Pyeongchang 2018 broadcasters. Please check your local TV channels for figure skating broadcasts.

On demand: The Olympic Channel has uploaded full replays of the figure skating events here. The videos are not geoblocked. Olympic videos are unlikely to be found on Youtube or other video websites, due to strict copyright enforcement.

2018 Figure Skating Olympians on Social Media

We’ve created a Google doc of the official social media accounts and websites of all the Pyeongchang 2018 figure skating Olympians. (Big thanks to chocktaw-salchow and Paval for helping out!) You can also subscribe to our Twitter list of official Olympic skaters’ accounts. If we’ve missed any links, please let us know!

Team Russia/OAR for the 2018 Olympics

The Russian Skating Federation has named its Olympic figure skating team; note that these skaters still need to be cleared by the IOC in order to compete as “Olympic Athletes from Russia”. The final list of cleared athletes is set to be announced on or after January 27.

Men: Mikhail Kolyada, Dmitri Aliev (Alternate: Alexander Samarin)

Ladies: Evgenia Medvedeva, Alina Zagitova, Maria Sotskova (Alternate: Stanislava Konstantinova)

Pairs: Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov, Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov, Natalia Zabiiako/Alexander Enbert (Alternate: Kristina Astakhova/Alexei Rogonov)

Ice dance: Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev, Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin (Alternate: Tiffani Zagorski/Jonathan Guerreiro)

Source

Team Canada for the 2018 Olympics, 4CC, Jr & Sr Worlds

FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Ladies: Alaine Chartrand, Michelle Long, Alicia Pineault (Alternates: Sarah Tamura, Emy Decelles)

• Men: Elladj Balde, Nam Nguyen, Kevin Reynolds (Alternates: Roman Sadovsky, Liam Firus, Nicolas Nadeau)

• Pairs: Lubov Ilyushechkina/Dylan Moscovitch, Camille Ruest/Drew Wolfe, Sydney Kolodziej/Maxime Deschamps

• Ice dance: Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus, Sarah Arnold/Thomas Williams, Haley Sales/Nikolas Wamsteeker (Alternate: Molly Lanaghan/Dmitre Razgulajevs)
  

WINTER OLYMPICS

• Ladies: Gabrielle Daleman, Kaetlyn Osmond, Larkyn Austman

• Men: Patrick Chan, Keegan Messing

• Pairs: Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford, Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau, Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro

• Ice dance: Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir, Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier, Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje
  

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Ladies: Gabrielle Daleman, Kaetlyn Osmond, Larkyn Austman (Alternates: Alaine Chartrand, Michelle Long, Alicia Pineault)

• Men: Patrick Chan, Keegan Messing (Alternates: Nam Nguyen, Elladj Balde, Kevin Reynolds)

• Pairs: Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford, Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau, Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro (Alternates: Lubov Ilyushechkina/Dylan Moscovitch, Camille Ruest/Drew Wolfe, Sydney Kolodziej/Maxime Deschamps)

• Ice dance: Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir, Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier, Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (Alternates: Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus, Sarah Arnold/Thomas Williams, Haley Sales/Nikolas Wamsteeker)

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Ladies: Aurora Cotop (Alternates: Alison Schumacher, Olivia Gran)

• Men: Joseph Phan, Conrad Orzel (Alternates: Corey Circelli, Eric Liu)

• Pairs: Lori-Ann Matte/Thierry Ferland, Evelyn Walsh/Trennt Michaud (Alternates: Gabrielle Levesque/Pier-Alexandre Hudon, Chloe Choinard/Mathieu Ostiguy, Chloe Panetta/Steven Lapointe)

• Ice dance: Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha, Olivia McIsaac/Elliott Graham (Alternates: Ashlynne Stairs/Lee Royer, Ellie Fisher/Simon-Pierre Malette-Paquette)
  

Sources: 1, 2

Team USA for the 2018 Olympics, 4CC, Jr & Sr Worlds

FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Ladies: Ashley Wagner, Mariah Bell, Starr Andrews (Alternates: Angela Wang, Amber Glenn, Courtney Hicks)

• Men: Jason Brown, Ross Miner, Max Aaron (Alternates: Grant Hochstein, Timothy Dolensky, Alexander Johnson)

• Pairs: Tarah Kayne/Danny O'Shea, Ashley Cain/Timothy Leduc, Deanna Stellato/Nathan Bartholomay (Alternates: Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier, Marissa Castelli/Mervin Tran, Chelsea Liu/Brian Johnson)

• Ice dance: Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker, Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter, Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons (Alternates: Elliana Pogrebinsky/Alex Benoit, Karina Manta/Joseph Johnson, Julia Biechler/Damian Dodge)

WINTER OLYMPICS

• Ladies: Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu, Karen Chen (Alternates: Ashley Wagner, Mariah Bell, Angela Wang)

• Men: Nathan Chen, Adam Rippon, Vincent Zhou (Alternates: Jason Brown, Ross Miner, Max Aaron)

• Pairs: Alexa Knierim/Chris Knierim (Alternates: Tarah Kayne/Danny O'Shea, Deanna Stellato/Nathan Bartholomay, Ashley Cain/Timothy Leduc)

• Ice dance: Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani, Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue, Madison Chock/Evan Bates (Alternates: Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean Luc Baker, Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter, Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons)

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Ladies: Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu, Karen Chen (Alternates: Ashley Wagner, Mariah Bell, Angela Wang)

• Men: Nathan Chen, Adam Rippon, Vincent Zhou (Alternates: Jason Brown, Ross Miner, Max Aaron)

• Pairs: Alexa Knierim/Chris Knierim, Tarah Kayne/Danny O'Shea (Alternates: Deanna Stellato/Nathan Bartholomay, Ashley Cain/Timothy Leduc, Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier)

• Ice dance: Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani, Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue, Madison Chock/Evan Bates (Alternates: Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean Luc Baker, Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter, Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons)

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Ladies: Starr Andrews, Ting Cui (Alternates: Hanna Harrell, Tessa Hong, Emmy Ma)

• Men: Alexei Krasnozhon, Camden Pulkinen, Tomoki Hiwatashi (Alternates: Maxim Naumov, Andrew Torgashev, Dinh Tran)

• Pairs: Audrey Lu/Misha Mitrofanov, Sarah Feng/TJ Nyman (Alternates: Laiken Lockley/Keenan Prochnow, Nadine Wang/Spencer Howe, Elli Kopmar/Jonah Barrett)

• Ice dance: Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko, Caroline Green/Gordon Green, Chloe Lewis/Logan Bye (Alternates: Eliana Gropman/Ian Somerville, Avonlea Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik, Emma Gunter/Caleb Wein)

Source: USFSA website

2018 Winter Olympic Figure Skating Schedule

Official schedule from the ISU. Reminder: Solid colored blocks are practices, white blocks with colored borders are competitions.

Team Japan for 2018 4CC, Olympics, Jr & Sr Worlds

FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Men: Shoma Uno, Keiji Tanaka, Takahito Mura (Alternates: Kazuki Tomono, Daisuke Murakami, Ryuju Hino)

• Ladies: Satoko Miyahara, Kaori Sakamoto, Mai Mihara (Alternates: Wakaba Higuchi, Rika Hongo, Marin Honda, Yuna Shiraiwa)

• Pairs: Miu Suzaki/Ryuichi Kihara, Narumi Takahashi/Ryo Shibata, Riku Miura/Shoya Ichihashi

• Ice dance: Kana Muramoto/Chris Reed, Misato Komatsubara/Timothy Koleto, Rikako Fukase/Aru Tateno

WINTER OLYMPICS

• Men: Shoma Uno, Keiji Tanaka, Yuzuru Hanyu (Alternates: Takahito Mura, Kazuki Tomono, Daisuke Murakami)

• Ladies: Satoko Miyahara, Kaori Sakamoto (Alternates: Wakaba Higuchi, Mai Mihara)

• Pairs: Miu Suzaki/Ryuichi Kihara (Alternates: Narumi Takahashi/Ryo Shibata, Riku Miura/Shoya Ichihashi)

• Ice dance: Kana Muramoto/Chris Reed

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Men: Shoma Uno, Keiji Tanaka, Yuzuru Hanyu (Alternates: Takahito Mura, Kazuki Tomono, Daisuke Murakami)

• Ladies: Satoko Miyahara, Wakaba Higuchi (Alternates: Kaori Sakamoto, Mai Mihara)

• Pairs: Miu Suzaki/Ryuichi Kihara

• Ice dance: Kana Muramoto/Chris Reed

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Men: Mitsuki Sumoto, Sena Miyake (Alternates: Tatsuya Tsuboi)

• Ladies: Rika Kihira, Mako Yamashita, Yuhana Yokoi (Alternates: Nana Araki)

• Pairs: Riku Miura/Shoya Ichihashi

Source

Qualified countries for the 2018 Olympic Team Event

After the conclusion of the 2017 Grand Prix Series, the 10 countries qualified for the Olympic Team Event are: Canada, Russia (would compete as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” under the Olympic flag), USA, Japan, China, Italy, France, Germany, Israel, and South Korea. See the ISU Communication for more details.