2026 Olympics Team Event - Strategy, Predictions & Discussion

[Karen-W]

@Karen-W, I like your schedule, but I don't think the two days off between short/rhythm, and free is a good idea. It's something that was mentioned in the broadcast, and by other skaters on social media. Skaters aren't used to two days off while competing.

Good point. Maybe just have each individual event compete back-to-back days instead. The skaters are definitely more used to that type of competition schedule

 

[allezfred]

Day 2 - rest day - currently NBC always winds up with the Super Bowl broadcast for on the 1st Sunday of the OWG, so they don't really need figure skating on that day and it gives ALL of the skaters a day to rest before their individual events begin

NBC and the USA can f*ck right off if they think the rest of the world is going to accommodate an American domestic event.

 

[Karen-W]

NBC and the USA can f*ck right off if they think the rest of the world is going to accommodate an American domestic event.

Lmao. Get back to me when the rest of the world pays the sort of $$ NBC pays to the IOC for broadcast rights.

The point of reconfiguring the scheduling for the TE isn't actually about accommodating NBC for the Super Bowl, it's to help the skaters rest & prepare for their individual events. But, of course, you've got such a strong, immovable anti-American streak in you that you fly right into a predictable blind rage at the suggestion that a rest day be incorporated into the figure skating schedule that coincides with the Super Bowl. No, no, no, hellllll no, we shall not do anything that "accommodates" NBC & the USA, even when it obviously benefits the people who matter most - the Olympic figure skaters.

 

[marbri]

To be fair Karen you brought up the Superbowl as part of your argument

 

[Karen-W]

To be fair Karen you brought up the Superbowl as part of your argument

I did.

Listen, the Super Bowl is certainly an American event, but it is also an event that is watched around the globe given the growing popularity of the NFL internationally. The fact is, the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl are competing events and while I know that causes resentment & anger from some quarters, it is just a simple truth these days.

So, you have a choice, continue screwing over the athletes impacted by a slightly more compacted Olympics figure skating schedule or build in an extra rest day that just so happens to coincide with another major sports event that is going to draw eyeballs away from the Winter Olympics no matter which of your marquee sports (figure skating & alpine skiing) you have on the schedule for the same day.

But, nope, some European sports administrators are so hung up on their resentment & bias against the US, they'd rather dig their heels in at any suggestion of slightly altering the Olympics figure skating schedule to better accommodate the athletes because it may also, God forbid, benefit NBC too. So sad and, like I said, utterly predictable, knee-jerk reaction.

 

[Sylvia]

"The team event obviously isn’t going anywhere, but could the schedule change? A reversal, perhaps, with the individual events coming first?" - Yahoo Sports article by Jay Busbee (Feb. 16):

Winter Olympics 2026: Was the schedule of the team figure skating event a problem for Ilia Malinin, Chock/Bates?

With the team competition starting first, the physical and emotional cost can ripple right on through into the individual ones.

sports.yahoo.com

“We would definitely prefer to have the individual events first and then the team event later on,” O’Shea said earlier in the week. “That would really allow the athletes to get into the celebratory feel that a team event has and really let loose a little bit more in watching the other athletes and being able to participate in cheering on your team.”
Other skaters held slightly different views. “In my opinion, I think that having a team event first and then an individual event is better,” Japan’s Masaya Morita said through an interpreter. “The motivation of the Japanese team has increased.”
“I'm happy to have this opportunity (to team skate first),” Italy’s Sara Conti said through an interpreter. “I don't want to call it training because it's not training, but I don't even feel the pressure. … The spirit of the team has helped me a lot in terms of tension.”

 

[Allskate]

"The team event obviously isn’t going anywhere, but could the schedule change? A reversal, perhaps, with the individual events coming first?" - Yahoo Sports article by Jay Busbee (Feb. 16):

So, the skaters who had less of a chance of an individual medal and more of a chance at a team medal or who skated later were fine with the TE going first. The ones whose individual events came sooner and had chances for gold thought the TE going first was a challenge. Not much of a surprise.

 

[Karen-W]

So, the skaters who had less of a chance of an individual medal and more of a chance at a team medal or who skated later were fine with the TE going first. The ones whose individual events came sooner and had chances for gold thought the TE going first was a challenge. Not much of a surprise.

And I bet that if the TE was last, the skaters in the disciplines competing during the 2nd week would feel opposite than they do with the current schedule.

I'm not sure if there's a better solution, apart from building in a longer recovery time between the TE and the individual events. A lot of skaters have also said they prefer competing on consecutive days, so maybe...
Day -1 (Thu before OC) - TE Day 1 - 3 SP/RD - Pairs, Dance & whichever Singles discipline competes in the 1st week
Day 0 (day of OC) - TE Day 2 - 1 SP and FD - whichever Singles discipline competes in the 2nd week & Dance FD
Day 1 (1st Saturday) - TE Day 3 - 3 FS - Pairs & both Singles disciplines
Days 2 & 3 - short-track (also gives a window to add Synchro if the ISU can ever get the IOC to agree to it)
Day 4 - (1st Tuesday) - Dance RD
Day 5 (1st Wednesday) - Dance FD
Day 6 - short-track
Day 7 (2nd Friday) - Men or Women SP
Day 8 (2nd Saturday) - Men or Women FS
Day 9 (2nd Sunday) - Pairs SP (also short-track in the morning)
Day 10 (2nd Monday) - Pairs FS
Day 11 (2nd Tuesday) - short-track
Day 12 (2nd Wednesday) - Men or Women SP
Day 13 (2nd Thursday) - Men or Women FS
Day 14 (3rd Friday) - short-track
Day 15 (3rd Saturday) - Exhibition Gala

 

[coppertop1]

Nothin is changing and all this fuss about changing the timing of the team event feels disingenuous. It's like people are just using it as a rationalization for what happens to Ilia.

 

[tony]

Nothin is changing and all this fuss about changing the timing of the team event feels disingenuous. It's like people are just using it as a rationalization for what happens to Ilia.

Some of us have been loudly saying it should be after the individual event since before it even happened in 2014.

I put up a poll pre-Olympics on social and I got like 800 answers. Every last skater competing in these Games who replied answered they would rather have it after.

 

[Vagabond]

If there must be a Team Event, maybe one or two teams could be composed of skaters who qualified for the individual event but whose Federations did not. This year, for example, there could have been a team composed of Reshtenko, Petrõkina, Pavlova & Sviatchenko, and Reed & Ambrulevičius. The Olympics used to allow multinational teams. It could do again (not that it will).

 

[ilovesalchows]

Some of us have been loudly saying it should be after the individual event since before it even happened in 2014.

I put up a poll pre-Olympics on social and I got like 800 answers. Every last skater competing in these Games who replied answered they would rather have it after.

What is nice about this is skaters who didn't perform well in their individual events would get a chance to end their Olympics on fun note, and maybe get a chance to redeem themselves. The organizers probably don't want all these people in the Olympic Village that long though.

 

[Karen-W]

Two things we know for sure...

1) The IOC won't go for multi-national teams in the TE

2) for practice scheduling purposes, there isn't the time to put the TE last

So, all this bitching from us fans or even the skaters themselves doesn't serve any effective purpose. We work with what exists to try & improve it and make the schedule work at least a little better for the skaters who are looking at two events in one week.

 

[Spareoom]

I've thought about it and if there's no way to change the format or schedule for the Olympics, then the next best thing would be to run the TE more often, perhaps in the pre-Olympics Worlds, to give federations and athletes more experience with strategy and pacing so when you get to the Olympics, you have a better idea of how to handle the schedule and likely outcomes. The WTT isn't a good comparison due to timing (it runs as an independent competition) and format (does not follow the Olympic format in terms of points and competitors) so it's only so useful in giving feds more exposure.

 

[Karen-W]

I've thought about it and if there's no way to change the format or schedule for the Olympics, then the next best thing would be to run the TE more often, perhaps in the pre-Olympics Worlds, to give federations and athletes more experience with strategy and pacing so when you get to the Olympics, you have a better idea of how to handle the schedule and likely outcomes. The WTT isn't a good comparison due to timing (it runs as an independent competition) and format (does not follow the Olympic format in terms of points and competitors) so it's only so useful in giving feds more exposure.

I agree. At minimum, I'd like to see the Olympic TE format competed at Worlds at least once per Olympic cycle. Since we have WTT every odd-numbered year, then the better solution might be to hold the Olympic-style TE at the even-numbered Worlds at the midpoint of the Olympic cycle - so the next one would be 2028, then 2032, etc.

 

[Taso]

I agree. At minimum, I'd like to see the Olympic TE format competed at Worlds at least once per Olympic cycle. Since we have WTT every odd-numbered year, then the better solution might be to hold the Olympic-style TE at the even-numbered Worlds at the midpoint of the Olympic cycle - so the next one would be 2028, then 2032, etc.

I love this idea