U.S. wins team figure skating silver, Russia’s Valieva makes history
Kamila Valieva’s historic quad jumps propelled the ROC to a gold in the figure skating team event and the U.S. earned a silver medal for its best finish in the young history of the event.
Video Transcript
- As expected, the Russian Olympic Committee ran away with gold in the figure skating team event. On the third and final day of the team competition, the Americans secured a silver medal with a solid skate from Karen Chen and a stunning performance by ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates. But the belle of the ball was Russian skater Kamila Valieva, who made history twice in this team event.
The phenom from Moscow set an Olympic record high score in her short program on the first day of competition, and outdid herself with the free skate on the final day of the event. Valieva became the first woman to ever land a quad jump in an Olympic games.
In fact, she landed two of them, but fell on her third attempt, which was her first fall on a quad jump during this entire skating season. Valieva was understandably disappointed with the fall, but the rest of the world will remember the routine as thrilling and historic. At just 15 years old, Valieva's future looks bright for the upcoming individual competition in Beijing and beyond.