Team USA Earns Best-Ever Team Event Finish with Silver Medal in Beijing

Silver has never felt quite so good.
 
After two consecutive team event bronze medals, Team USA climbed the leaderboard to take silver at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
 
The Russian Olympic Committee earned gold with 74 points, with Team USA edging Team Japan in the battle for silver, 65 points to 63 points.
 
Madison Chock and Evan Bates led the U.S. skaters on the final night of competition, finishing first in the free dance to add 10 points to Team USA's total. Karen Chen placed fourth for seven points in the women's free skate, and Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier finished fifth in the pairs' free skate, good for six points.
 
Also receiving medals are Nathan Chen (men's short), Vincent Zhou (men's free), and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue (rhythm dance). All but Knierim and Nathan Chen are first-time Olympic medalists.
 
"I think a silver medal is something to be incredibly proud of," said Team USA co-captain Bates. "Highest finish for our country in the history of this event. We've been lucky enough to sit in the box at every one of those events and to cheer on our teammates. And this year, knowing that we would get the chance to participate was a big deal to us, and we put a lot of emphasis on this event."
 
Chock and Bates scored 129.07 points for their free dance to "Contact," "Within" and "Touch" by Daft Punk, setting a new personal best.
 
"When we came around the diagonal at the end, we were hearing our teammates cheering us on, it really just lifted us and gave us energy for that last push of the program," co-captain Chock said. "It's an incredible honor to be part of the team event, and to feel that we've done our best to support our team, and to give them the performance that we wanted and they wanted. I'm just very honored."
 
This is Chock and Bates' third Games together, but their first team event and Olympic medal. They placed eighth in Sochi in 2014 and ninth in PyeongChang in 2018. Bates also competed in Vancouver in 2010 with previous partner Emily Samuelson, finishing 11th.
 
Bates is also the first U.S. skater ever to qualify for four Olympic teams, and is now the oldest U.S. figure skater to medal in any discipline at 32 years old.
 
"Four years ago, we left PyeongChang quite disappointed, especially after the free dance, and we made a huge life change," Bates said. "We moved to Montreal. We completely changed our entire lives, moved to a foreign country, left home, and it was all to get back to this moment. And to dream of skating a program like that, and get the score, and the result, and to share it with the team, it's as good as it gets."
 
Karen Chen ultimately clinched the silver for Team USA with her 131.52-point free skate to "Butterfly Lover Concerto" by Takako Nishizaki.
 
"I know that this long program is really special to me, and I remember my last thought before I stepped on the ice was, 'I'm going to be a pretty butterfly,'" Chen said. "It's such a traditional piece here in China, and I was like, 'You know, I'm just going to embrace this moment and skate my little heart out.'"
 
Her performance was a strong rebound after a short program that had left her rather disappointed.
 
"Just coming back from yesterday is a huge thing for me, because yesterday, I knew I could've landed that loop," Chen said, referring to the triple loop she fell on during her short program. "I've been training so well, and I'm just waiting for that moment. And for today, to go out there and to do that was just such an incredible feeling."
 
Chen made her Olympic debut in 2018, not competing in the team event and placing 11th in the individual. Her performance there left her determined to pursue another four years of work to make another Olympic team.
 
"When I see the rings again, I can't help but have flashbacks of 2018. I just can't help it, as much as I try to just focus on this as a totally different experience," Chen said. "To change that and to skate really well on Olympic ice was such an incredible feeling. And then as soon as I got off the ice, the team was so happy, just cheering for me. They were still super, super supportive and proud of me, said amazing things, but it definitely just hit different."
 
Knierim and Frazier led off the night for Team USA, scoring 128.97 points for their free skate to "Fix You" by Fearless Soul and Coldplay, and "Redemption Through Love" by Karl Hugo.
 
The duo had placed third in the short program and were admittedly disappointed with their fifth-place showing.
 
"Not our best today in the free," Frazier said. "The short, we were very proud of. That's how we skate. We know we can do the long similar. We do it a lot in our training, so we've just got to tap into it a little more. But overall, a lot of positive, good things and experiences we took away from this weekend of competing."
 
With the individual pairs event wrapping up figure skating in Beijing on Feb. 18-19, Knierim and Frazier hope that this is just the beginning for them, and that the team event is an experience they can draw from.
 
"This gets us out there, and gets our feet wet, and starts settling our nerves, and allows us to feel what to expect in the individual," Frazier said.
 
Ultimately, while their free skate result wasn't what they wanted, Knierim and Frazier were thrilled with their team event experience. This is Knierim's second – she competed with her husband and former partner Chris Knierim in 2018 – and she never plans to miss one.
 
"We love it," Knierim said. "We will always raise our hands to partake in [the team event]."
 
That was the prevailing sentiment as the curtain fell on the opening figure skating competition of the Games, with the Team USA athletes walking away with some hard-fought, well-deserved hardware.
 
"We're celebrating silver," Bates said. "Winning a silver medal at the Olympic Games is an incredible achievement, and the fact that we all get a silver medal, the whole team, I'm so happy."