2026 Olympics Team Event speculation

[freedomlover]

Malinin lost SP a couple of times before but he knew he would be able to make up for it in the free with his count of better or worse quads so all these wins were mostly meaningless to him and inconsequential. This is the first time when a loss is a loss as the point lost cannot be simply taken back, and it may have consequences depending on how the whole Day 3 plays out. I think it puts more pressure on all Team US competing today as I am pretty sure they did not expect what happened. Yuma's win OTOH is probably a huge boost in confidence and spirit for Team Japan.

Have to agree.... But Japan needs to root hard for the Canadians in Pairs lmao. Utamasa should have had one more point in the RD with the mistake from the Koreans, but they don't. If Miura/Kihara don't go perfect while Kam/O'Shea go 5th anything the singles skaters do is incosequential.

 

[Magill]

Have to agree.... But Japan needs to root hard for the Canadians in Pairs lmao. Utamasa should have had one more point in the RD with the mistake from the Koreans, but they don't. If Miura/Kihara don't go perfect while Kam/O'Shea go 5th anything the singles skaters do is incosequential.

Anything apart from a meltdown.... and we saw unexpected meltdowns on the Olympic ice in the past so you can never rule it out.
But in principle I agree.

 

[Skating91]

He is an Olympic medalist in the books. Regardless of how it happened.

The same as Ilia Malinin has great chances to become the first skater to ever win 4 Olympic Gold medals, by taking the team and individual in 2026 + 2030.

Not all Olympic medals are the same. Are you saying a gold medal in the 100m sprint in the same as a gold medal in breakdancing. Everyone knows Usain Bolt, no-one could name a breakdancing gold medalist.

 

[YuBluByMe]

I just had to check to see if breakdancing is actually an Olympic sport and….. it is. It apparently was introduced in 2024 Summer games, but won’t be implemented in 2028.

…I’m about to go through a wikipedia and YouTube journey.

 

[4everchan]

Well, everyone knows Phil Wizard, the Olympic champion in breakdancing. Yup. I knew of him before the games and his win was all over our dear CBC
Go Canadian wizards!

 

[TontoK]

Not all Olympic medals are the same. Are you saying a gold medal in the 100m sprint in the same as a gold medal in breakdancing. Everyone knows Usain Bolt, no-one could name a breakdancing gold medalist.

I continue to scratch my head at the insistence that this Team Event doesn't matter, or that the skaters don't care, or that the federations don't care. This is contrary to the evidence we've seen in Milan.

Aside from the slew of individual medal favorites participating in this event, let's just take a look at Canada as a case study.

When they were unjustly (in my mind) denied the bronze medal following the Valieva fiasco, it was a VERY big deal. I think it still is. And if, as seems possible, the decision to withhold Piper and Paul from the free dance costs them yet another medal... well, like @4everchan I expect they'll be some pretty strong reactions in Skate Canada.

And even if you don't think it's an important medal, wouldn't you hope that it would be? That one day federations DO actually care? That skaters value an Olympic medal when most of those who medal in the team event will not see the podium in the individual? Wouldn't you WANT to support and promote the opportunity, rather than crap on it at every opportunity?

It's like 4CC, which many fans dismiss. It routinely has as strong, or stronger, fields than Europeans, at least at the top. I hope the rumored calendar changes will give the strong federations more incentive to treat it as a prestigious championship, rather than the consolation prize we see too often.

 

[4everchan]

I continue to scratch my head at the insistence that this Team Event doesn't matter, or that the skaters don't care, or that the federations don't care. This is contrary to the evidence we've seen in Milan.

Aside from the slew of individual medal favorites participating in this event, let's just take a look at Canada as a case study.

When they were unjustly (in my mind) denied the bronze medal following the Valieva fiasco, it was a VERY big deal. I think it still is. And if, as seems possible, the decision to withhold Piper and Paul from the free dance costs them yet another medal... well, like @4everchan I expect they'll be some pretty strong reactions in Skate Canada.

And even if you don't think it's an important medal, wouldn't you hope that it would be? That one day federations DO actually care? That skaters value an Olympic medal when most of those who medal in the team event will not see the podium in the individual? Wouldn't you WANT to support and promote the opportunity, rather than crap on it at every opportunity?

It's like 4CC, which many fans dismiss. It routinely has as strong, or stronger, fields than Europeans, at least at the top. I hope the rumored calendar changes will give the strong federations more incentive to treat it as a prestigious championship, rather than the consolation prize we see too often.

Meagan Duhamel said the federations care because a medal means funding. So yeah. The athletes care too. It's just some fans who are salty about it.

 

[Mathman]

Well, everyone knows Phil Wizard, the Olympic champion in breakdancing. Yup. I knew of him before the games and his win was all over our dear CBC
Go Canadian wizards!

Whatever your sport or field of endeavor, go for the gold. If your thing is kayaking, paddle like the Devil is gaining on you, every time out.

 

[Magill]

And even if you don't think it's an important medal, wouldn't you hope that it would be? That one day federations DO actually care? That skaters value an Olympic medal when most of those who medal in the team event will not see the podium in the individual? Wouldn't you WANT to support and promote the opportunity, rather than crap on it at every opportunity?

It's like 4CC, which many fans dismiss. It routinely has as strong, or stronger, fields than Europeans, at least at the top. I hope the rumored calendar changes will give the strong federations more incentive to treat it as a prestigious championship, rather than the consolation prize we see too often.

My main problem with this is that their main merit to get this Olympic medal is sharing the same passport as those who are individual medal contenders anyway, plus coming from big federations and benefiting from their backstage politicks. And we've seen some of this already even in this event BTW. Isn't it why some of those non-contenders want so much to be selected for the team event? Because they will be basically guaranteed a medal no matter what, which they would never win on their own?
But that's exactly why these medals will never carry the same value as those won in individual events on individual merits.

 

[4everchan]

oh please...

the athletes on the team event first had to earn their own qualification to the games with worlds placement (or Chinese nebelhorn) and national ranking as well as minimum scores. It's not like some skaters who actually cannot skate will make the games and win a free medal. This sort of banter reminds me of people first making fun of curlers when it came to the games... until they realized how fit these curlers have to be to run and sweep the stones across the ice.

Also, to win a medal, as things are so much tighter, most teams have to have a very well-rounded roster. When we talk about the USA's weakest link (pairs), well these two are still top 7 in the world last year.

The Japanese dancers are young and inexperienced but I wouldn't say that they are bad skaters. Fine, they will get a medal they wouldn't earn in their own discipline but that happens in every sport. Not all hockey players are stars. Not all relay swimmers have a shot at their individual race.