Overview
- The United States won the Olympic figure skating team event with 69 points, edging Japan’s 68, with Italy taking bronze on 60.
- Ilia Malinin clinched the final segment with 200.03 points, landing five quadruple jumps and a legal backflip to finish ahead of Japan’s Shun Sato at 194.86.
- Japan closed the gap on the final day as Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara delivered a career-best 155.55 in the pairs free skate and Kaori Sakamoto won the women’s segment with 148.62.
- The backflip had been banned in ISU competition from 1976 until a 2024 rules change depenalized it, enabling Malinin to include the move at these Games.
- Novak Djokovic’s in-arena reaction to Malinin’s backflip went viral as the three-day team event concluded and the individual competitions got underway.