What to watch for: Austria’s Anna Gasser is the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist, but she hurt her shoulder surfing during the summer and has been rehabbing with the hope of making it three straight. New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, the 2022 big air silver medalist and also a slopestyle star, is another favorite.

Team USA is expected to produce a good-sized medal haul at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The Americans already have an edge in the team event and are favored to bring home golds in the men's event and the ice dance. A medal performance or two is also expected from the women's event, where the top Americans will do battle with Japan's Kaori Sakamoto.

Team USA made an immediate impact on the first full day of competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, headlined by another one-sided performance from the women's hockey team and a five-point lead in figure skating's team event that sets up a pivotal Sunday.

From death spiral to twizzle, you might not be familiar with these figure skating terms. Brush up on your sports jargon this Winter Olympics.

Figure skating has long been a staple of the Winter Games program. From the early days of elegant skating, the high-flying, acrobatic competition of today, fans are consistently wowed by the ability of athletes who lay it all on the line for their country and Olympic glory.

Olympic figure skating is often seems to take athletes to the very edge of perfection, but even the greatest stumble and fall. How do they pull themselves together again on the biggest world stage? Toughness,

One would think that given all the success Marina Klimova enjoyed in high-stakes, international figure skating with her husband and pairs partner, Sergei Ponomarenko, she would have no trouble watching her son when he takes the ice.