(7 Feb 2026)  Day 1 of the figure skating competitions at the Olympic Winter Games 2026 in Milan brought the rhythm dance and the short programs of the pairs and women. They were scheduled early in the day, before the opening ceremony of the Games, which was held in the evening at San Siro stadium.

Team USA ended the day with a narrow lead over Japan The USA scored a collective 25 points while Japan has 23, and Italy follows in third on 22 points.  Team USA won the rhythm dance segment, while Team Japan won the pairs an women short program.

Rhythm Dance

Madison Chock & Evan Bates (pictured above, credit: Getty Images) set the rhythm for their team by coming first in the Rhythm Dance, securing 10 points. The three-time ISU World Champions’ precise and energetic performance to songs by Lenny Kravitz scored a season’s best of 91.06 points. 

"Team USA is off to a great start,” Chock said. “We've got a ton of amazing athletes, so I have all the confidence in the world in them."

Team USA Madison Chock & Evan Bates

Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron, were second in the Rhythm Dance with their quirky, well skated, performance to “Vogue,” scoring 89.98 points.

"We all skate with our hearts and we cheer each other on,” Fournier Beaudry said about competing in the Team Event. “We embrace the same journey, so it really brings us together."

Lila Fear & Lewis Gibson were third with 86.85 points.

Pairs Short Program

Two-time ISU World Pairs Champions Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara earned 10 points for Team Japan by winning the Pairs Short Program. Miura & Kihara turned in a passionate performance to “Paint It Black”, hitting the triple twist, triple toe and throw triple Lutz to set a new personal best of 82.84 points.

“The Team Event was a lot of fun,” Miura said. “We really enjoyed skating as part of the team and sharing that experience together. The joint effort of every athlete is what makes it (the team) strong."

Newly crowned ISU European Champions Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava skated to second place with an excellent performance to “Bolero,” adding nine points to their team's score.

“We have a very good chance to take a medal and we will do everything we can do to earn one,” Berulava said.

Pair skaters Sara Conti & Niccolo Macii where third-place in the Short Program. The team returned to competition in Milan after missing Europeans due to Conti recovering from an injury. Skating to “The Wild Bull” and “Concerto de Espana” the two-time ISU World bronze medalists scored 76.65 points.

“We are overjoyed,” team captain Sara Conti commented. “For the first time we are in one of the top position and I am overall very proud of our team. They did an excellent job. It’s been fantastic, there was a positive reaction from everyone. We are happy we got that far, we are all very close to each other.”

Ellie Kam & Danny O’Shea contributed six points to Team USA by coming fifth in the Pairs Short Program with their elegant performance to “Hallelujah”, though with a fall in throw triple loop and a minor error in their change combination spin.

Women Short Program

Three-time ISU World Champion Kaori Sakamoto helped kept her team's gold hopes alive by winning the Women’s Short Program. The Japanese Champion gave an outstanding performance to “Time to Say Goodbye," scoring 78.88 points.

“We have been practicing at a camp in Italy, and everyone is in good condition right now,” Sakamoto said. “If we can keep our condition until the end, we have a very good chance of getting a [team] gold medal.”

Alysa Liu's short program, to “Promise,” was skate well, though her triple loop in the jump combination was called at the quarter, and her triple flip got an edge attention call.  Liu scored 74.90 points, and earned  nine team points.

“I really loved doing the Team Event,” Liu commented. ”I took part in the World Team Trophy last year, my very first team experience overall, but the Olympic team felt a little different and really special, though similar.”

Reigning ISU European bronze medalist Lara Naki Gutmann gave a personal best performance to the soundtrack of “La Legge Di Lidia Poet” that included a triple toe-triple toe combination and earned 71.62 points. 

“I had so many great feelings and I wanted to do the best performance I could do for myself, for my team, for Italy in this amazing stadium with my home crowd. So in the moment, it just felt great,” Gutmann noted.

Setup for Day Two

Team USA holds a small lead, with Team Japan just two points behind Team USA.

“All the Japanese athletes are very strong, not just technically, mentally as well,” team captain Masaya Morita said. “The atmosphere today was very warm for the Japanese athletes. We could hear a lot of cheers and all our athletes enjoyed performing very much. Tomorrow, it’s going to be the Short Program of the Men and the Free Dance. We (ice dancers) have to do well and we want to enjoy the Men’s event, Yuma Kagiyama is going to skate," he continued.

The competition is also close between Italy and Georgia, with the Italians besting the Georgians 22 to 20 points.

Current ISU World silver medalists Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier and Canadian Champions Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud collected seven points each by finishing fourth in the Rhythm Dance and Pairs Short Program.  Team France trails Team Canada by 2 points and will have to fight in the Men's short program on day two to get into the final of the top five teams.

Speaking of Team USA's plan for the second day of competition, “The strategy is always to skate well,” team captain Danny O’Shea said. “I think that the U.S. team is very blessed, we have a lot of great options, and I think it will be a wonderful surprise to see what happens tomorrow. It's already been decided for an announcement for the U.S. that tomorrow it will be Ilia Malinin for the Short Program and Madison (Chock) and Evan (Bates) again for the Free Dance.”