Team USA won gold in the figure skating team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan on Sunday night, finishing one point ahead of Japan in one of the tightest finishes the event has produced.
The Americans finished with 69 points, with Japan at 68 and host Italy taking bronze with 60. After Japan pulled even earlier in the evening, the team title came down to the final skate of the competition, with Ilia Malinin carrying the United States to the title in the men’s free skate.
Malinin Delivered in the Final Moment
By the time the last segment arrived, the math was simple. Japan had erased the U.S. lead through strong performances in the pairs free skate and women’s free skate, leaving the standings tied and turning the men’s free into a winner-take-gold showdown.
Malinin answered with the kind of performance the United States needed most. Skating before Japan’s Shun Sato, the American star landed five quadruple jumps and posted 200.03 points. Sato, impressive in his own right, scored 194.86 but finished behind him in the segment. Because the team event is decided by placement points rather than raw cumulative scores, Malinin’s edge translated directly into the single point that separated gold from silver.
Afterward, Malinin made clear he understood exactly what was at stake. In comments published by The Associated Press, he said he knew he was the deciding factor once the standings tightened. The performance also capped a quick rebound from a short program that had been solid by most standards but below the level expected from the skater widely seen as the sport’s most explosive jumper.
It made for a clean Olympic image: the final skater for the United States, under maximum pressure, producing exactly the placement his team required.
The win was built before the finale
Malinin clinched it, but the Americans did not reach that final segment by accident. Their gold was built across three days of disciplined work and a roster that provided scoring opportunities in every discipline.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates were central to that effort. The veteran U.S. ice dance team, the only returning American members from the Beijing 2022 team gold medal squad, won the free dance with 133.23 points and earned the maximum 10 placement points for the United States. Olympics.com described the program as a season-best performance, while NBC Olympics noted how decisively it kept the Americans in front entering the final day.
The United States also benefited from a strong showing in pairs. Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea were not favored to win the segment, and they did not have to. They finished fourth with 135.36 points, a result that preserved ground in an event where every placement can swing the standings.
The women provided another key contribution, though it came in a less comfortable form. The United States used world champion Alysa Liu earlier in the event, then replaced her with Amber Glenn for the free skate. Glenn’s performance was uneven, with mistakes that kept her from challenging Kaori Sakamoto for the top spot, but her third-place finish still mattered. Had the United States dropped another place in that segment, Japan would not have needed to chase Malinin.
Japan pushed the event to its limit
Japan’s silver will be remembered for how close it came to flipping the result. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the pairs free skate with a career-best score, and Sakamoto followed by taking the women’s free skate, two results that wiped out the U.S. cushion and forced the competition into a dead heat before the final segment. That late charge made Japan look, for long stretches, like the team with the stronger momentum. It also underscored the country’s depth. Japan had enough firepower to pressure the defending champions across multiple disciplines and enough composure to turn the final evening into a genuine toss-up. Still, the team event can be unforgiving in the way it rewards placements over margins. A skater can win a segment comfortably, but if the placement order holds, the gain is fixed. According to Reuters and AP, Japan finished with silver for the second straight Olympics. That repeat near-miss will only make the one-point gap feel harsher.
Why this Gold Resonated for the U.S.
For the Americans, the result was about more than defending a title. It gave the United States its second straight Olympic gold in the team event and, unlike the long-delayed medal resolution from Beijing, this one was decided on the ice and awarded immediately afterward.
The shape of the victory also mattered. The United States did not dominate every segment or produce a flawless event. Instead, it showed depth, versatility and enough star power to survive a tight finish.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates gave the Americans early control. Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea helped preserve it. Amber Glenn limited the damage when Japan made its push. Ilia Malinin finished the job.
That is often how team competitions are won — not through one performance alone, but through enough steady work to make the final moment count.
In Milan, the Americans did exactly that. When the competition came down to one skate and one point, they had the right skater on the ice.
By the end of the night, that was the story. The United States did not need a runaway victory. It needed one final segment, one last edge and one skater willing to handle the pressure. Malinin delivered, and Team USA left Milan with gold.
