Sequins and rhinestones, lycra and velvet: The figure skaters, who have been getting their bearings for the past few days on the ice at Milano Ice Skating Arena – the venue for figure skating at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games – are preparing to don their dazzling costumes and rise to the challenge. The top 10 nations in the world rankings will open the festivities with the team event, from Friday, February 6, to Sunday, February 8. All of them – the United States, Japan, Italy, Canada, Georgia, France, United Kingdom, South Korea, China and Poland – hope to compete in a more serene atmosphere than the one that prevailed in Beijing in 2022.
Introduced to the Olympic program in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, as a joint effort by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Skating Union (ISU) to modernize the oldest discipline of the Winter Games and give it greater visibility, the event turned into a nightmare in the Chinese capital.
Russia claimed a convincing victory thanks to Kamila Valieva, 15, the first woman to land two quadruple jumps – salchow and toe loop – at the Games. However, Russia was soon caught up in controversy when it was revealed that its young star had tested positive for trimetazidine at the Russian championships a few weeks earlier.
The medal ceremony was postponed indefinitely “for legal reasons,” leaving the title unresolved for two and a half years. Once the dispute was settled, the United States, which had initially finished second, received the title in August 2024, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower during the Paris Summer Olympics. It was a hard-fought distinction that they will defend fiercely in Milan-Cortina, amid a radically different sporting and geopolitical context.
The US enter as favorites
Russia was suspended by the IOC due to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, which took place four days after the closing ceremony in Beijing 2022. Teams from the country remain banned, but some Russian athletes are allowed to compete individually, under a neutral flag, with no anthem or national symbols. This will be the case for three-time national champion Adelia Petrosian, 18, and current Russian champion Petr Gumennik, 23.
The absence of the country – a powerhouse in figure skating – has shaken up the competition to the point where, for the first time in 12 years, the race for the team title appears wide open. Canada, long one of the event’s leading teams and winner in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018, arrives with an experienced but less dominant team. The United States, led by Ilia Malinin, the “king of the quadruple axel,” and world dance champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates, enter the competition as favorites.
They will nevertheless have to contend with Japan, which came second in Beijing after Russia’s disqualification, who are seeking a first-ever team gold thanks to strong contenders in both singles and pairs. With three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto, 2022 Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama and duo Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara – Olympic silver medalists in 2022 and world champions in 2023 and 2025 – the Japanese team is aiming for the podium across multiple categories.
France looks to make up for lost time
As the host country, Italy is counting on its home crowd and a well-rounded team to secure a medal, while France is making an ambitious return to the event. Sixth in Sochi in 2014, then tenth in Pyeongchang in 2018, the French team was left out in Beijing four years ago, having failed to qualify in the women’s and pairs categories – the rules require representation in at least three of the four categories to be eligible. France now approaches this event eager to make up for lost time.
This time, the team includes Lorine Schild in the women’s category, Kevin Aymoz and Adam Siao Him Fa – fifth and fourth respectively at the 2025 World Championships – in the men’s, Camille and Pavel Kovalev in pairs, and two ice dance duos: Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud, as well as Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.
Olympic champion in 2022 and five-time world champion (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022) with Gabriella Papadakis (now retired from competition), Guillaume Cizeron will compete in Milan with his new, Canadian-born, naturalized partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry. Together, they were crowned European champions in January. If the duo does not skip this event to preserve energy for the individual competition, where they are aiming for gold, they could help France reach the final, for which only the five nations with the highest scores after the short programs will qualify – perhaps even more.
