{"id":15678,"date":"2018-02-17T18:06:01","date_gmt":"2018-02-17T23:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=15678"},"modified":"2020-02-16T11:45:50","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T16:45:50","slug":"daily-olympic-bytes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/daily-olympic-bytes\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Olympic Bytes by IDC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/DailyOlympicBytes2018.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Brought to you daily by Anne Calder &amp; Daphne Backman<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Final Bytes from Anne &amp; Daphne&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Final Bytes from Anne &amp; Daphne<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Beginning with the Team Event and all the way through the free dance, competitors demonstrated the beauty, the athleticism, and the finesse of ice dancing. We didn\u2019t want to end our coverage without a final salute to all of the teams. The list below includes teams whose performances were not previously highlighted in our recaps.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Spain\u2019s Sara Hurtado &amp; Kirill Khaliavin danced a personal best to Don Quixote. When injury forced Khaliavin\u2019s partner, also his wife, to retire in 2016, she suggested Hurtado as a partner. They finished 12th in their Olympic debut.<\/li>\n<li>After Skate America in November, Canadians Piper Gilles &amp; Paul Poirier exchanged their Perry Mason themed free dance for a James Bond medley. It paid off with an eighth place finish and a season best score in Pyeongchang.<\/li>\n<li>Charlene Guignard &amp; Marco Fabbri represent Italy, but Guignard was born in France. Their ethereal skate to Exogenesis Symphony Part III by Muse secured them 10th place.<\/li>\n<li>Kaitlyn Weaver &amp; Andrew Poje of Canada returned to their signature piece, \u201cJe suis malade\u201d by Lara Fabian, and finished in seventh place. Weaver said, \u201cIt\u2019s just what we dream of \u2013 competing how you know you can and most importantly letting your soul out. That\u2019s what we did today. No matter the number, the score, the levels, it\u2019s about what we love to do in our hearts.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Poland\u2019s Natalia Kaliszek &amp; Maksym Spodyriev danced a fast-paced medley of Roaring Twenties songs, including a selection from The Great Gatsby\u201d. \u00a0They are coached by two-time Olympian Sylwia Nowak-Tr\u0119backa.<\/li>\n<li>Yura Min &amp; Alexander Gamelin were born in the USA, but represent Korea. Their free dance using a local folk song, \u201cArirang&#8221; and performed by So Hyang is their tribute to Korea.<\/li>\n<li>Penny Coomes &amp; Nicholas Buckland were still hampered by Coomes\u2019 knee injury, but finished 11th with their reworked Muse medley choreographed by Christopher Dean.<\/li>\n<li>Kana Muramoto &amp; Chris Reed danced to the traditional music of Japanese composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto to place 15th in their Olympic debut as a team. Reed previously competed with his sister.<\/li>\n<li>Germany\u2019s Kavita Lorenz &amp; Joti Polizoakis interpreted the <em>Pride and Prejudice<\/em> soundtrack with beautiful seamless moves and finished 16th in their Olympic debut.<\/li>\n<li>Alisa Agafonova &amp; Alper Ucar of Turkey will retire after the 2018 World Championships. They danced a medley of musical selections and finished in 19th place.<\/li>\n<li>Tiffany Zagorski &amp; Jonathan Guerreiro were added to the Olympic Athletes from Russia\u2019s invited list just prior to the beginning of the Games. Their beautiful interpretation of Muse\u2019s Exogenesis Symphony, Parts II and III was rewarded with a 13th place finish.<\/li>\n<li>France\u2019s Marie-Jade Lauriault &amp; Romain LeGac danced to a medley by Queen and finished 17th in their Olympic debut. The married couple train in Montreal, Canada.<\/li>\n<li>Lucie Mysliveckova &amp; Lukas Csolley of Slovakia danced to a Cabaret medley sung by Lisa Minnelli. The team trains in Italy with 2002 Olympic bronze medalist Barbara Fusar-Poli.<\/li>\n<li>China\u2019s Shiyue Wang &amp; Xinyu Liu did not qualify for the free dance, but have had a successful season so far including a silver medal at the International Cup of Nice. Their free dance is \u201cOver My Shoulder\u201d and \u201cHappy Ending\u201d by Mika.<\/li>\n<li>Alexandra Nazarova &amp; Maxim Nikitin of Ukraine finished 21st in the short dance, so we missed their fun loving and energetic free dance to a Pirates of the Caribbean medley.<\/li>\n<li>Cortney Mansourova &amp; Michal Ceska of the Czech Republic recently moved to the USA to train with Igor Shpilband. Unfortunately, the Olympic audience missed their Godfather free program.<\/li>\n<li>Adel Tankova &amp; Ronald Zilberberg representing Israel planned to skate to a Prince of Egypt medley, but did not qualify for the free dance. Tankova is a former pairs skater.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DB-14-8946.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Shiyue Wang &amp; Xinyu Liu of China\u00a0<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DB-14-8593.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Piper Gilles &amp; Paul Poirier of Canada<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DB-14-7454.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>France&#8217;s Marie-Jade Lauriault &amp; Romain Le Gac<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DB-14-6519.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Italy&#8217;s Charlene Guignard &amp; Marco Fabbri<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DB-14-7240.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Adel Tankova &amp; Ronald Zilberberg of Israel<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DB-14-9661.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Kaitlyn Weaver &amp; Andrew Poje of Canada<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 14 &#8211; Feb 22&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 14:\u00a0 Thursday, February 22<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>The Ladies free program was the final Olympic figure skating competition. After the short program, two Olympic Athletes from Russia were sitting atop the leaderboard with a Canadian in third place. Anticipation of the showdown between two teenagers, who also share the same coach and training facility, made headlines across the skating world.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eighteen year-old Evgenia Medvedeva had amassed every ladies gold medal for two years. A foot injury kept her off-ice for several weeks and out of the Grand Prix Final. In mid-January, she placed second at Europeans \u2013 her first loss since moving up to seniors.<\/li>\n<li>Almost a year ago, fifteen year-old Alina Zagitova won the 2017 World Junior Championships and last fall began a barnstorming tour through her first senior season. She won a Challenger B, two Grand Prix\u2019s, the GPF and Europeans before arriving in Pyeongchang.<\/li>\n<li>The stage was set for the Olympic Athletes from Russia to win their first 2018 Olympic gold medal. Alina Zagitova already had a 1.31 advantage after her short program victory. The teenagers both earned the same scores for their free programs \u2013 156.65, but Medvedeva broke the tie with a higher PCS score.<\/li>\n<li>Medvedeva won the free program, but was unable to overtake her teammate\u2019s lead. The situation was reminiscent of 15-year-old Tara Lipinski\u2019s win over the favored Michelle Kwan twenty years ago in Nagano, before Medvedeva and Zagitova were born. Ironically, Lipinski called the event from Gangneung Arena for the television audiences.<\/li>\n<li>The International Judging System rewards a 10% bonus to singles skaters for jumping passes done after the halfway mark in the program. The original intent of the added bonus was to discourage front loading programs when fresh legs are less tired and to create a more balanced presentation.<\/li>\n<li>All of Zagitova\u2019s jumps earn the 10% bonus due to their placement after the midway mark. She also does the most difficult combination jump &#8211; 3Lz+3Lo.<\/li>\n<li>Kaetlyn Osmond skated a mature presentation of <em>The Black Swan<\/em>. The Canadian added bronze to her Team Event gold medal earned earlier in the Olympic competitions after finishing 13th\u00a0in 2014 at Sochi.<\/li>\n<li>In her fourth Olympics, Italy\u2019s Carolina Kostner captivated the audience with her effortless interpretation of Claude Debussy\u2019s <em>Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun<\/em>. The 31 year old scored the second highest PCS, less than two points behind Evgenia Medvedeva.<\/li>\n<li>The 2010 Olympic gold medalist, Yuna Kim, watched in the audience as Korea\u2019s Dabin Choi and Hanul Kim skated personal best performances. Yuna Kim lit the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony.<\/li>\n<li>Maria Sotskova, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, redeemed herself with an 8th place finish after placing 12th\u00a0in the short program.<\/li>\n<li>Satoko Miyahara earned a personal best for her light and lyrical interpretation of Puccini\u2019s <em>Madam Butterfly<\/em>. She placed fourth in her Olympic debut. All three of the four-time Japanese National Champion\u2019s marks surpassed her previous scores.<\/li>\n<li>Alexia Paganini, who finished 21st. was born in Greenwich, USA but represents Switzerland, her father\u2019s homeland. She trains in Hackensack, USA alongside Nicole Rajicova who skates for Slovakia, and placed 14th.<\/li>\n<li>Finland\u2019s Emmi Peltonen was born in Nashville, USA when her father played for the NHL Predators. He is a four-time Olympic medalist in ice hockey. Peltonen trains part time in Los Angeles with Rafael<\/li>\n<li>Belgium\u2019s Loena Hendrickx was 20th\u00a0after the short program. Her free program to \u201cDifferente\u201d by Gotan Project was 14th. She finished 16th.<\/li>\n<li>The USA Ladies finished 9th, 10th\u00a0and 11th, the same positions, though not the same order, as they held after the short programs. It was disappointing as it marked the first time an American woman failed to finish in the top six in any Olympics since World War II.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DB-13-0235.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Alina Zagitova (OAR) is the ladies 2018 Olympic Champion.<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DB-13-1215.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Evgenia Medvedeva (OAR) won the free skate and the silver medal.<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DB-13-0764.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Canada&#8217;s Kaetlyn Osmond claimed the bronze medal.<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 13 &#8211; Feb 21&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 13:\u00a0 Wednesday, February 21<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Today was Ladies\u2019 Day at the Gangneung Arena! Thirty young women performed their short programs, but only twenty-four qualified for the final skate. Two teenagers representing Olympic Athletes from Russia and a two-time Canadian Olympian top the leaderboard.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Two Olympic Athletes from Russia broke world short program record scores twice in thirty minutes. Evgenia Medvedeva skated 25th\u00a0and topped her own record with 81.61 points. Three skaters later, Alina Zagitova beat Medeveda\u2019s score with 82.92 points.<\/li>\n<li>Canadian Kaetlyn Osmand had the audience in the palm of her hand with a hand clapping &#8211; foot stomping cabaret routine that had people shaking their heads about her score.<\/li>\n<li>Italy\u2019s Carolina Kostner competes in her fourth Olympics. She joins Sonja Henie (NOR) Olena Liashenko (UKR), Laetitia Hubert (FRA) and Julia Sebestyen (HUN). Kostner turned 31 on the first day of the 2018 Games and is the oldest ladies\u2019 competitor.<\/li>\n<li>Satoko Miyahara of Japan celebrates her 20th birthday on February 26, the day after the Olympics close. She learned to skate when she spent two years in the USA while her parents, who are doctors, studied in Houston, Texas. She made her Olympic debut at the Team Event.<\/li>\n<li>Karen Chen is not related to Nathan Chen, but does have a younger brother, Jeffrey, who together with his partner, Gianna Buckley, are the U.S. Novice Ice Dance silver medalists.<\/li>\n<li>Television cameras again caught one of the Hendrickx siblings from Belgium cheering on the other\u2019s performance. During the men\u2019s competition, younger sister Loena watched; tonight big brother Jorik reciprocated.<\/li>\n<li>Thirteen of the ladies skated in the Team Event. Carolina Kostner was the only one who participated in both the Short and Free Program rounds.<\/li>\n<li>Host country South Korea\u2019s ladies both qualified for the free skate. Hanul Kim will be fourth in the first group, while Dabin Choi competes seventeenth.<\/li>\n<li>The sound of voices during the short programs turned a few heads at the arena. The 2018 Winter Games is a first Olympics to allow vocals for singles and pairs. Ice dance was already permitted. Familiar artists heard were: Madonna, Beyonc\u00e9, Ella Fitzgerald, Liza Minnelli, k.d lang, Celine Dion, Caro Emerald, Jackie Evancho and Edith Piaf. The ladies all chose ladies.<\/li>\n<li>Nicole Rajicova was born in the USA to Slovakian parents and trains in Hackensack, New Jersey. She was the last (24th) to qualify for the Sochi Olympics\u2019 free skate. For four years she continued to train while also studying international business, economics and mathematics at Fordham University. Rajicova qualified 13th<sup>\u00a0<\/sup>for the free program in PyeongChang.<\/li>\n<li>Ivett Toth of Hungary entertained the audience with a medley of AC\/DC music that included &#8220;Back in Black&#8221; and then transitioned to &#8220;Thunderstruck.&#8221;\u00a0 While Toth&#8217;s score was nearly nine points below her personal best, she qualified for the free skate.<\/li>\n<li>Brazil&#8217;s Isadora Williams competed at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi where she finished 30th of 30 competitors, but did not qualify for the free program.\u00a0 In 2018, Williams set a new personal best of 55.74 in route to finishing 17th in the short program and advancing to the free skate.<\/li>\n<li>France\u2019s Mae Berenice Meite won viewer\u2019s hearts even though her TES was .30 less than the base value. Dressed in black pants with a gold glittered top, she performed a powerful Beyonc\u00e9 routine and qualified for the free program.<\/li>\n<li>All the figure skating competitions begin at 10:00 am in PyeongChang, which means a very early morning wake-up call for all the athletes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/1173.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Evgenia Medvedeva skates her short program.<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 12 &#8211; Feb 20&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 12:\u00a0 Tuesday, February 20<\/h2>\n<p>There are no bytes today due to it being Free Dance day!\u00a0 Check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/2018-olympics-free-dance-recap\/\">recap<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 11 &#8211; Feb 19&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 11:\u00a0 Monday, February 19<\/h2>\n<p>There are no bytes today due to it being Short Dance day!\u00a0 Check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/2018-olympics-short-dance-recap\/\">recap<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 10 &#8211; Feb 18&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 10:\u00a0 Sunday, February 18<\/h2>\n<p>There are no bytes today as there are no figure skating events.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 9 &#8211; Feb 17&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 9:\u00a0 Saturday, February 17<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Tonight during the free programs, fans witnessed a gamut of emotion &#8211; from failure to redemption, from injuries to comebacks, from previous disappointment to euphoria, plus history making performances. The 2018 Men\u2019s Olympic event will be talked about in skating circles forever.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Japan\u2019s Yuzuru Hanyu won back-to-back Olympic figure skating gold medals, the first since the USA\u2019s Dick Button in 1948 and 1952. Hanyu\u2019s victory is even more impressive when taken into account that an ankle injury kept him off the ice for three months immediately prior to Pyeongchang.<\/li>\n<li>In 2002, Alexei Yagudin and Evgeny Plushenko stood atop the Salt Lake City podium as Russian gold and silver medalists. Four Olympiads later In Pyeongchang, Yuzuru Hanyu and Shoma Uno joined them in accomplishing the same feat for Japan.<\/li>\n<li>Shoma Uno fell on his opening quad loop, but bounced up quickly and without hesitation jumped into a quad flip. He struggled midway through the program, but with the grit and determination of a true Olympic warrior, he pushed through to the end.<\/li>\n<li>Javier Fernandez won Spain\u2019s first Olympic medal after a disappointing fifth place finish in 2014. Ironically, both competitions involved lost Salchow points. In Sochi, he missed the podium when he turned a Salchow into a triple, then repeated the jump. Tonight he doubled down the quad Salchow, lost nine base points and turned silver into bronze.<\/li>\n<li>After his disastrous short program, American Nathan Chen hit the ice with fire in his belly. One by one he checked off six quads \u2013 five successfully &#8211; and won the free skate. His vault from 17th place to fifth was historic as were his five registered quads.<\/li>\n<li>The 2017 World Junior Champion, Vincent Zhou of the United States, attempted five quads and moved from twelfth to sixth. After his final spin, he emotionally fell across the Olympic rings and sobbed. The seventeen-year-old had just scored two personal bests in two programs in two days.<\/li>\n<li>The USA\u2019s Adam Rippon again skated a quad-less program, but his arsenal of clean triple jumps landed him in 10th.\u00a0He and Nathan Chan earned bronze medals in the Team Event.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>China\u2019s Boyang Jin withdrew from the GPF after competing in the 2017 Grand Prix Series with two sprained ankles caused by loose boot laces. Two months later, he finished fourth at the Olympics, less than eight points off the podium.<\/li>\n<li>Patrick Chan skated to \u201cHallelujah\u201d then left the competitive ice for (as we assume) the final time. His 17-year career that began in 2001 with a Canadian Juvenile bronze medal includes three World and Four Continent Championships, two GPF Championships and ten National Championships. Chan won silver in Sochi. He also has two team medals \u2013 silver in 2014 and gold in 2018.<\/li>\n<li>Canada\u2019s Patrick Chan, Olympic Athletes from Russia\u2019s Mikhail Kolyada and Italy\u2019s Matteo Rizzo skated in both rounds of the Team Event and two individual competitions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Timothy Goebel &#8211; The original Quadmaster of the U.S.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Twenty years ago at the 1998 Junior World Championships, Timothy Goebel was the first American skater to land a quad jump of any kind. He was also the first skater in the world to land a quad Salchow.<\/li>\n<li>In 1999 at Skate America in Colorado Springs, Timothy Goebel was the first to land three quad Salchow in one program.<\/li>\n<li>At the 2002 Olympics, Timothy Goebel was the first skater to successfully land a quad\u00a0Salchow in combination.<\/li>\n<li>Timothy Goebel was the first man in the world to land six quads in a single competition.<\/li>\n<li>Timothy Goebel landed 76 quads in his career.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 8 &#8211; Feb 16&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 8:\u00a0 Friday, February 16<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.103&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Tonight at the Gangneung Arena the men took to the Olympic ice for their short programs, which included three jumps, three spins, and a step sequence. Of the 30 skaters who performed in the short program competition, only 24 will move on to take the ice in the free skate.<\/p>\n<p>After the topsy-turvy competition, tomorrow\u2019s headline might read like the familiar opening of ABC&#8217;s Wide World of Sports\u2026<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe thrill of victory\u2026 and the agony of defeat\u2026the human drama of athletic competition\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Japan\u2019s Yuzuru Hanyu is in Pyeongchang to defend his 2014 Olympic title. He has been MIA since injuring an ankle in November. Tonight he hit the ice with confident defiance and methodically checked off his three difficult jumping passes that account for over 44 of his 63.18 technical points.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Hanyu has earned Japanese rock star status with a huge entourage of photographers, journalists and fans that trace his every step. Reminiscent of the 1960\u2019s \u2018Beatlemania\u2019 fandom, passionate young females follow the skater to competitions all over the world, tossing gifts and Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals on the ice. Some even dress in Pooh costumes.<\/li>\n<li>An animated Charlie Chaplin routine by Spain\u2019s Javier Fernandez put him four points behind his training mate.<\/li>\n<li>In third place with all positive GOEs, Japan\u2019s Shoma Uno told the press he was unhappy with his program. He skated appropriately to \u201cWinter\u201d from Vivaldi\u2019s <em>Four Seasons.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>China&#8217;s Boyang Jin appeared fully recovered from the ankle injuries that plagued him earlier this season. Jin&#8217;s technical content was second overall (60.27), but both Fernandez and Uno posted PCS marks that were 3 plus points higher, so Jin settled for fourth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Dmitri Aliev, the 18-year old European silver medalist, finished fifth after landing two quads and a triple axel and receiving technical marks close to the those received by the top four.\u00a0 Aliev, who won the silver medal at the European Championships last month, has an eight point lead over Patrick Chan of Canada who landed in sixth after a fall on his triple axel.<\/li>\n<li>American Adam Rippon is the only one in the top ten not to attempt a quad. His clean skate was rewarded with seventh place.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Vincent Zhou, the youngest member of the USA delegation, skated third and immediately landed the first quad Lutz in Olympic history. Zhou finished the evening in 12th.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Nathan Chen, the young American phenom, had a disappointing performance earning negative GOE\u2019s for all three of his jumping passes. He found himself in unfamiliar territory at the end of the evening. The U.S. National Champion finished 17th and has a lot of ground to make up.<\/li>\n<li>Adam Rippon and Nathan Chen train together with Rafael Arutunian in the Los Angeles area. Rippon is the oldest of six children while Nathan is the youngest of five. It is a perfect set up for a big brother \u2013 little brother relationship.<\/li>\n<li>Keegan Messing was born in Alaska, but holds dual American-Canadian citizenship. In 2014, he began skating for Canada, his mother\u2019s birthplace. He finished tonight in 10th.<\/li>\n<li>Other performances of note include Michal Brezina (Czech Republic), Misha Ge (Uzbekistan), and Jorik Hendrickx (Belgium).\u00a0 As Hendrickx took the ice for his performance, the camera panned to a nervous Loena Hendrickx, Jorik&#8217;s younger sister who also qualified for the Olympics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, Kazakhstan\u2019s Denis Ten, nursed a ligament ankle injury all season, but he wanted desperately to compete in South Korea. Ten is the great-grandson of Min Keung Ho, a famous general who fought for Korean independence. His statue and memorial is just 35 miles from PyeongChang. Ten competed tonight, but unfortunately did not qualify for the free skate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 7 &#8211; Feb 15&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 7:\u00a0 Thursday, February 15<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.102&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Tonight at Gangneung Arena, the audience watched and applauded as the early teams performed their routines. All the while the attentive crowd was anticipating the final showdown amongst the best athletes in the world. It was like enjoying the sweet smell of pastries baking in the oven, but knowing the cooked treats would be well worth the wait.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is it time for the pairs and dance teams to be maximized again? Unfortunately, the audience missed the opportunity to watch a second program by some noteworthy skaters. Those left off the final roster included the host country team, a two-time World Junior and JGP Final gold medalist with a previous partner and the reigning World Junior Champions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>A memorable byte from the Pairs event was the inclusion of the North Korean team, who earned their bid to participate, then qualified for the free program with a personal best skate to the Beatles. Their caliber of performance brought deserved respect and admiration from the skating community.<\/li>\n<li>For the second night in a row, Italians Valentina Marchei &amp; Ondrej Hotarek entertained the audience with a spirited routine that kept them in character beyond the end of the program. The music was from <em>Amarcord<\/em>, a 1973 Italian\u00a0comedy-drama film\u00a0directed by\u00a0Federico Fellini.<\/li>\n<li>The five-time French National Champions, Vanessa James &amp; Morgan Cipres returned to last year\u2019s very popular \u201cThe Sound of Silence\u201d by Disturbed free program. They made a gutsy move and went for the quad throw Salchow, but she two-footed the landing. Still, the high base value minus the negative GOE\u2019s, gave them 5.49 points for the element. It was probably worth the try.<\/li>\n<li>The audience erupted when the final four teams raced out onto the ice for their warm-ups. Six minutes of non-stop lifting, spinning, throwing and jumping drew loud cheers and applause.<\/li>\n<li>Aljona Savchenko &amp; Bruno Massot of Germany skated first. The seamless program was breathtaking. With the final pose, tears of pure joy and utter exhaustion exploded at center ice. They earned a personal best 159.31 score but had to wait until after the three final skaters before they knew it was golden.<\/li>\n<li>Canada&#8217;s Meagan Duhamel &amp; Eric Radford made history with the first officially recorded Olympic quad throw Salchow. The difficult element gave them the highest base value score and helped secure the bronze medal<\/li>\n<li>Wenjing Sui &amp; Cong Han of China were at the top of the leader board when the evening began. However, errors on both jumping passes drew negative GOEs that made the color of their medal turn from gold to silver. At the Flower Ceremony, Sui couldn\u2019t hide her disappointment as her eyes welled up with tears.<\/li>\n<li>Evgenia Tarasova &amp; Vladimir Morozov from the Olympic Athletes from Russia closed the event with a Christina Aguilera and Elvis Presley program. Tarasova &amp; Morozov perform best when they use a more traditional Russian genre. Unfortunate mistakes in their side-by-side jumps and the throw Salchow at the beginning made it a tough hill to climb up to the podium. They finished fourth.<\/li>\n<li>Ria (Baran) Falk &amp; Paul Falk won Germany\u2019s last Pairs Olympic Gold medal in 1952. They invented the Lasso-Lift and were also the first couple to perform side-by-side double jumps.<\/li>\n<li>After each of their programs, the final group watched the remaining skaters together and celebrated the results with tears and hugs \u2013 some joyous \u2013 some sad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image admin_label=&#8221;Highlight Photo&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.102&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-7-1166.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.102&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>2018 Olympic Champions Aljiona Savchenko &amp; Bruno Massot embrace after their free skate.<br \/>\n <\/em><em>Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 6 &#8211; Feb 14&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 6:\u00a0 Wednesday, February 14<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>With the Team Event already a distant blur, the individual competitions finally got underway on Valentine\u2019s Day with the pairs short programs. Twenty-two couples representing 14 countries began their climb toward the podium. The top 16 teams moved on to tomorrow\u2019s free skate.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wenjing Sui &amp; Cong Han of China and Evgenia Tarasova &amp; Vladimir Morozov representing OAR are standing in a virtual tie atop the leaderboard while the third- to ninth-place teams are clustered with less than three points separating them.<\/li>\n<li>Sui &amp; Han skated 17th\u00a0and immediately vaulted into first place with a strong technical and charismatic interpretation of K.D. Lang\u2019s &#8220;Hallelujah.&#8221; The reigning world champions, who didn\u2019t participate in the Team Event, held their position through the remaining competitors. Only Tarasova &amp; Morozov came close and that took a personal best performance to Rachmaninov\u2019s Piano Concerto No. 2 to shave the lead to within less than a point.<\/li>\n<li>After competing in both rounds of the Team Event, Canadians Meagan Duhamel &amp; Eric Radford skated rather tentatively, but are third. While Germany\u2019s Aljona Savchenko &amp; Bruno Massot were expected to vie for a gold medal, they find themselves fourth after Massot did a double Salchow instead of a triple, reducing both the base value and the GOE for that element.<\/li>\n<li>Both Savchenko &amp; Massot and Tarasova &amp; Morozov earned perfect scores (8.70 points) for their level 4 triple twists.<\/li>\n<li>Miu Suzaki &amp; Ryuichi Kihara from Japan and Duhamel &amp; Radford both attempted side-by-side triple Lutzes, the most difficult and highest scoring jump in the competition. Neither landed it cleanly, but the Japanese received higher GOEs than the Canadians.<\/li>\n<li>A highlight of the evening was the quirky performance of &#8220;Tu Vuo Fa l&#8217;Americano&#8221; by Valentina Marchei &amp; Ondrej Hotarek. The Italians used comedic moves and facial expressions to interpret the satiric lyrics of the song, which is about an Italian influenced by the lifestyles of Americans who occupied Italy after World War II.<\/li>\n<li>Harley Windsor, whose parents are of Aboriginal descent, is competing as the first Indigenous Australian athlete at the Winter Olympics. Windsor and his partner, Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya, are the 2017 Junior World Champions.<\/li>\n<li>North Korea\u2019s only pair team, Ryom Tae-ok &amp; Kim Ju-sik qualified for the Games by merit at the 2017 Nebelhorn Trophy. The country\u2019s other 20 entrants are by wild card. Their 11th-place finish brought the audience to its feet. It was a shining moment for all who witnessed the performance.<\/li>\n<li>North Korea\u2019s 230-person, all-female cheerleading squad, wearing white hats with red bands and red ski jackets, entertained the audience with their unified chants and cheers.<\/li>\n<li>Germany&#8217;s Aljona Savchenko is participating in her fifth Olympics with her third partner, representing her second country.<\/li>\n<li>China&#8217;s Hao Zhang is also a five-time Olympian on his third partner, but he has always skated for China.<\/li>\n<li>The only married couple, Alexa and Chris Knierim from the USA, sealed their Valentine\u2019s Day performance with a sweet kiss at center ice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image admin_label=&#8221;Highlight Photo&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18-OWG-6-5575.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Valentina Marchei &amp; Ondrej Hotarek celebrate after a great short program.<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 5 &#8211; Feb 13&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.105&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 5:\u00a0 Tuesday, February 13<\/h2>\n<p>There were no figure skating events held today.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; specialty=&#8221;off&#8221; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 4 &#8211; Feb 12&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 4:\u00a0 Sunday, February 12<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>The final night of the Team Event had Canada with a commanding lead after the pairs free programs. Olympic Athletes from Russia were second. The USA, Italy, and Japan followed, with a slim margin of one point between third and fourth places. The gauntlet was thrown down between USA and Italy.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Teams Canada and Russia used the same man and ice dance competitors, but changed their ladies. Teams USA and Japan kept the ice dancers, but switched off both the man and lady. Team Italy used the same skaters from the men, ladies, and ice dance short programs.<\/li>\n<li>Team USA\u2019s Mirai Nagasu became just the third woman in history to land a ratified triple axel at the Olympics. Although she has had past issues with under-rotations, all of her jumps were called clean. Representing Japan, Midiro Ito (1992) and Mao Asada (2010) were the other ladies to do the triple axel at the Olympics. Asada did three\u2014one in the short and two in the free program\u2014in Vancouver.<\/li>\n<li>Alina Zagitova aided Team OAR&#8217;s cause by scoring 158.08 points en route to winning the ladies free skate. Zagitova&#8217;s free skate was choreographed so that all of her jumps were in the second half of the program, giving her a 10% bonus on each of them.<\/li>\n<li>Mirai Nagasu\u2019s second-place finish coupled with Carolina Kostner\u2019s fourth-place finish widened the distance between Team USA and Team Italy, while\u00a0Gabrielle Daleman added eight points to Team Canada\u2019s mounting lead.<\/li>\n<li>Mikhail Kolyada wanted to make amends for his poor performance in the short program. However, he opened with problems on his first two quad jumps. He rallied after that, though, and earned positive GOEs for the remaining elements. His second place points (9) pushed Team OAR closer to the solidifying the silver medal position.<\/li>\n<li>Despite problems with the triple axel jumps, Canada&#8217;s Patrick Chan was able to capitalize on landing two strong quads, including one in combination. He executed all of his other non-jump elements with positive GOEs to win the men&#8217;s free skate portion of the Team Event.<\/li>\n<li>Matteo Rizzo is the son of Brunhilde Bianchi and Valter Rizzo, former Italian ice dancers and current coaches, who trained Federica Faiella &amp; Massimo Scali. Scali coaches in Marina Zoueva&#8217;s group in Canton, Michigan, and is in Pyeongchang.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Adam Rippon didn\u2019t attempt a quad, but the points earned from his two triple axels and flip combination helped Team USA earn the bronze medal.<\/li>\n<li>Unfortunately, Kaori Sakamoto and Keiji Tanaka were unable to lift Team Japan out of fifth place.<\/li>\n<li>Kana Muramoto &amp; Chris Reed of Team Japan started the free dance event. \u00a0A fall by Reed in the step sequence cost the team valuable points, but they rebounded to strongly finish the second half of the program. \u00a0The misstep by Reed was the only fall in the entire ice dance portion of the Team Event. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Team Italy\u2019s Anna Cappellini &amp; Luca Lanotte, known for their story-telling programs, captivated the audience with the somber story of <em>Life is Beautiful.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Ekaterina Bobrova &amp; Dmitry Soloviev added eight points to Team Russia\u2019s total with a third-place finish. Their program told the story of a blind girl who is actually a character in her partner\u2019s dream.<\/li>\n<li>Maia &amp; Alex Shibutani\u2019s second-place performance and nine points gave Team USA the final push to secure the bronze ahead of Team Italy.<\/li>\n<li>Tessa Virtue &amp; Scott Moir cemented Team Canada\u2019s gold medal with a commanding and confident performance to <em>Moulin Rouge<\/em>. Last to skate, Virtue debuted a new dress in the same burgundy shade as the last one, but with the side cutout silhouette from her popular blue practice dress. This dress is embellished, though, just the right amount for the music choice.<\/li>\n<li>With the individual ice dance event scheduled to start on\u00a0February 18, it did seem like some teams may have held back in their performance expression compared to what we will see in a week.<\/li>\n<li>The final standing for the 2018 Team Event was: Canada (73), Olympic Athletes from Russia (66), USA (62), Italy (56) and Japan (50). The top three teams received their awards at two ceremonies.<\/li>\n<li>The flower ceremony was held immediately after the competition. Each team member received a white and black stuffed tiger wearing a tiny gold, silver, or bronze hat. The animal is a plush replica of Soohorang, the official mascot of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games. They also received a paper flower called an <em>uhsahwa<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>In the evening, the teams were awarded their medals, and \u201cOh Canada\u201d was played at the outdoor ceremony. In addition to the medals, each competitor received a wooden gift adorned with mountain scenes of Pyeongchang and characters from the Korean Hangui alphabet spelling out \u201c<em>PyeongChang 2018<\/em>\u201d in the official Games motif<em>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image admin_label=&#8221;Highlight Photo&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18-OWG-4-5575.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Team Canada celebrates at the flower ceremony.<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 3 &#8211; Feb 11&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 3:\u00a0 Saturday, February 11<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><strong>HIGHLIGHTS FROM DAY 3:\u00a0 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After taking off a day for the Opening Ceremony, the Team Event continued with the dance and ladies short programs. The order of placement after the first night was: Canada, United States, Japan, Olympic Athletes from Russia, Israel, China, Italy, Germany, South Korea, and France.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>All the dance teams skated the same Rhumba pattern, two different step sequences, a lift, and a set of twizzles.<\/li>\n<li>The technical specialist was very strict, particularly in the Rhumba pattern.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>In the Rhumba pattern, no dance team received a level 4, and Anna Cappelini &amp; Luca Lanotte earned the only level 3. Tessa Virtue &amp; Scott Moir, Maia &amp; Alex Shibutani, Ekaterina Bobrova &amp; Dmitry Soloviev, Kavita Lorenz &amp; Joti Polizoakis, and Yura Min &amp; Alex Gamelin were awarded level 2. The rest of the competitors got level 1.<\/li>\n<li>No one earned credit for the first key point of the Rhumba, which is the lady&#8217;s steps in the difficult Rhumba choctaw.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Two-time Olympic medalists Tessa Virtue &amp; Scott Moir topped the leaderboard with an upbeat Latin dance to music by the Rolling Stones, Eagles, and Santana. They were the only team to top 80 points.<\/li>\n<li>While the Shibutanis&#8217; dance was not technically up to par for them, it was enough to hold off the Russian team of Ekaterina Bobrova &amp; Dmitry Soloviev by .70 and get the nine points awarded to second place.<\/li>\n<li>Yura Min had a costume malfunction that affected the team\u2019s third twizzle, which reduced the twizzle sequence to level 1 and lowered the score in their Olympic debut representing the host country of South Korea.<\/li>\n<li>The ladies were the final discipline to skate their short programs, and the audience was loud.<\/li>\n<li>Russia\u2019s Evgenia Medvedeva was the last to skate, but earned the highest score \u2013 81.06, which was a new world record. Over half her points came from placing all her jumps after the mid-point of the program so she could garner a 10% bonus for each one.<\/li>\n<li>Carolina Kostner, who turned 31 on the first day of the 2018 Olympics, helped improve Italy\u2019s score with a second-place skate.<\/li>\n<li>Kaetlyn Osmond added 8 points to help Canada\u2019s lead with a third-place program that had the audience clapping along to Edith Piaf&#8217;s classic songs.<\/li>\n<li>Satoko Miyahara snagged fourth place and seven points by .01 over Bradie Tennell and helped secure Japan\u2019s qualification in the free skate.<\/li>\n<li>The U.S. National Champion, Bradie Tennell, had the second highest TES\u2014just four points behind Medvedeva. She earned six points for her fifth-place finish.<\/li>\n<li>South Korea\u2019s Dabin Choi skated a beautiful program and earned a standing ovation from the home audience.<\/li>\n<li>The first round ended with the following teams qualifying to skate their free programs: Canada (35), Olympic Athletes from Russia (31), United States (29), Japan (26), and Italy (26).<\/li>\n<li>Later in the evening, the pairs free skate began the second round with\u00a0Canada&#8217;s Meagan Duhamel &amp; Eric Radford claiming the top spot.<\/li>\n<li>The Italian pairs team of Valentina Marchei &amp; Ondrej Hotarek had an Olympic moment when they nailed every element in their performance and passed their personal best score by 5.5 points. They finished second and, coupled with Kostner&#8217;s placement in the ladies short program, vaulted Team Italy into medal contention.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; next_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 2 &#8211; Feb 10&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 2:\u00a0 Friday, February 10<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Today brought the Opening Ceremony for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>The Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium is pentagon-shaped. The five sides of the arena represent the Olympic rings.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremonies included delegations representing 92 different countries and the\u00a0athletes marched into the Stadium, led traditionally by Greece, then followed by delegations according to the Korean alphabet.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Five skaters were chosen to lead their country&#8217;s delegation into the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium as flag bearers.\u00a0 Ice dancers Tessa Virtue &amp; Scott Moir waved Canada&#8217;s flag during their delegation&#8217;s entrance, while singles skaters Julian Yee (Malaysia), Alexei Bychenko (Israel), and Moris Kvitelashvili (Georgia) also served in this role for their countries.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Each delegation was joined by a child carrying a candle, which symbolized the lantern that welcomes important guests into the Korean Imperial Court.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The final group to enter the stadium was a unified North and South Korean team of athletes carrying the unification flag. Two members of the mixed North and South Korean women\u2019s hockey team relayed the torch to figure skating Olympic Gold Medalist, Yuna Kim, who lit the cauldron.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The USA has the largest delegation ever to participate in a Winter Olympic Games with 242 athletes. Their jackets had heating elements inside, though the excitement of walking with their teammates may have made those somewhat unnecessary.\u00a0 As luck would have it, the American athletes walked into the stadium to &#8220;Gangnam Style&#8221; by Psy, a South Korean pop star.\u00a0 The music video for the 2012 hit was the first to reach 1 billion hits on YouTube.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Norway has won the most Winter Olympic medals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>The unsung heroes of the Opening Ceremony were the dancers assembled in a giant circle in the center of the stadium, who performed ongoing choreography for the duration of the extensive parade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image admin_label=&#8221;Highlight Photo&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DailyBites-2-7492.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Malaysia&#8217;s Julian Yee carries his country&#8217;s flag in the opening ceremonies.<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; prev_background_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Highlights from Day 1 &#8211; Feb 9&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights from Day 1:\u00a0 Friday, February 9<\/h2>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The team event got underway with the men&#8217;s and pairs short programs.\u00a0 While the men&#8217;s event was filled with mistakes as competitors got their Olympic legs under them, the pairs event was nearly the opposite.<\/li>\n<li>Team Canada has taken the lead based on Meagan Duhamel &amp; Eric Radford&#8217;s second-place finish in the pairs short and Patrick Chan landing in third.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Team USA is in second after fourth-place finishes from Alexa Scimeca Knierim &amp; Chris Knierim and Nathan Chen.\u00a0 The Knierims skated one of their best performances to-date, while Chen made several mistakes and finished lower than expected.<\/li>\n<li>There is a tie between the teams from Japan and Olympic Athletes of Russia (OAR).\u00a0 Shoma Uno won the men&#8217;s short program and, coupled with an eighth-place finish from Miu Suzaki &amp; Ryuichi Kihara, he helped secure a third-place standing for Team Japan.\u00a0 Evgenia Tarasova &amp; Vladimir Morozov won the pairs short and helped Team OAR rebound after an uncharacteristically poor skate from Mikhail Kolyada, who finished eighth in the men&#8217;s short.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Other performances of note include Israel&#8217;s Alexei Bychenko (who finished second in the men&#8217;s short and was not shown on TV in the United States), Matteo Rizzo of Italy, and Junhwan Cha of South Korea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243;][et_pb_image admin_label=&#8221;Highlight Photo&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/18OWG-DailyBites-1-7492.jpg&#8221; show_in_lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;off&#8221; use_overlay=&#8221;off&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; always_center_on_mobile=&#8221;on&#8221; force_fullwidth=&#8221;off&#8221; show_bottom_space=&#8221;on&#8221; \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.0.101&#8243; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Alexa Scimeca Knierim &amp; Chris Knierim (USA)<br \/>\n Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brought to you daily by Anne&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_gspb_post_css":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2018-olympics"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?fit=254%2C150&ssl=1",254,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?fit=300%2C177&ssl=1",300,177,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?fit=768%2C454&ssl=1",768,454,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"et-pb-post-main-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1",400,250,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?resize=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?resize=400%2C284&ssl=1",400,284,true],"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?resize=510%2C382&ssl=1",510,382,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image-single":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?resize=400%2C516&ssl=1",400,516,true],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Daily-Olympic-Bytes-2166.jpg?resize=45%2C45&ssl=1",45,45,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Team IDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/author\/idcadmin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Brought to you daily by Anne...","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7GOSM-44S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15678"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15838,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15678\/revisions\/15838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}