Ice dancers propel U.S. to 1st Olympic silver in team skating

The United States got their first team skating medal in the first weekend of the Beijing Olympics with a silver. Though, for a while, it looked as if they might now until the last par skated.

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February 7, 2022 - 10:05 AM

Nathan Chen of Team United States skates in the Men's Single Skating Short Program Team Event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital Indoor Stadium on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (Elsa/Getty Images/TNS) Photo by TNS

BEIJING (AP) — Madison Chock and ice dance partner Evan Bates knew what they were up against as figure skating’s team competition drew to a close at the Beijing Olympics and the American chances of a silver medal started to slip away.

“I had heard the Russians’ (score) right before we skated and I was like ‘Oh, that’s such a hefty score,’” Chock said in a dark hallway inside Capital Indoor Stadium on the third day of the medley event. “And then it was like: ‘All right. Focus.’”

Did they ever.

With poise and precision, Chock and Bates proceeded to win the discipline with a score of 129.17, less than a point ahead of the world champion Russians, who had been penalized a point for an overly long lift. That gave Team USA the maximum of 10 points and just about locked up its first silver medal in three editions of the team competition.

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