2026 Olympics Team Event - Strategy, Predictions & Discussion

[ice coverage]

The US women often go somewhere else to train because there is such a big time gap between the Opening ceremonies and the women's event. In 2018, I think they went to Japan and back.

Chuncheon, South Korea, was the training site in 2018 for Team USA figure skaters.

"The U.S. team spent much of its time at the Olympics practicing a couple of hours away in Chuncheon, South Korea."
https://skatingmagazine.usfigureskating.org/article/Skating_201804_12 (scroll down)​

The Chuncheon site was not just for the women. I remember that according to Mirai, Vincent discovered at the eleventh hour that he accidentally packed his Opening Ceremony uniform in luggage that already had been sent to Chuncheon. Luckily, an extra Opening Ceremony uniform somehow was found for Vincent.

(Separate comment in reply to the person who referred to C/B cheering at the team event:
No need to snark about other U.S. dancers who perhaps were not there -- I don't remember one way or the other.
Not taking anything away from C/B, but Evan did have an official role as Team Captain for the U.S. skaters. I think he spoke on behalf of Team USA at press conferences for the team event.)

 

[Allskate]

Didn't Justin Dillon say that USFS was renting ice in Bergamo? The skaters will probably practice there at least until the middle of next week.

Yes, and he also said that the skaters could practice there even before being processed for the Olympics. I think the ice is available to them now. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the skaters in the TE would prefer to get over their jetlag and acclimate even before official practices start. Also, although I'm sure they want to check out the actual competition ice, the official practices are public and the time is limited, so I can definitely see some of the skaters preferring to spend some additional time in Bergamo after the official practices start.

 

[Tinycities]

Yes, and he also said that the skaters could practice there even before being processed for the Olympics. I think the ice is available to them now. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the skaters in the TE would prefer to get over their jetlag and acclimate even before official practices start. Also, although I'm sure they want to check out the actual competition ice, the official practices are public and the time is limited, so I can definitely see some of the skaters preferring to spend some additional time in Bergamo after the official practices start.

Do they tend to stay in the Olympic village or will they stay in Bergamo until the events start? It’s a 2 hour drive each way.. can’t see them doing that daily.

 

[MacMadame]

Excluding the racism she encountered non-stop that he will never be exposed to, if only anyone cared enough about Figure Skating for there to be the same pressure and exposure in the Figure Skating Team Event. It's a blip in the scheme of things.

It's a big deal to USFS, the ISU and the skaters. One the World's biggest stage.

Also, responding to another post, comparing Ilia to an athlete in a completely different sport and saying that if they can do the normal things for their sports, it means Ilia can do something abnormal in ours doesn't fly. Apples to oranges. Especially as this strong athlete suffered a mental breakdown from the pressure at one point. If Ilia is our version of Biles, then he could break down, too. The comparison goes both ways.

 

[Allskate]

Do they tend to stay in the Olympic village or will they stay in Bergamo until the events start? It’s a 2 hour drive each way.. can’t see them doing that daily.

According to Google, it's less than one hour each way, though I expect traffic isn't going to be great. Maybe they'll stay in Bergamo and have a bit of calm?

On the latest episode of The Runthrough, Ashley and Adam talked about the best place to train. Ashley said she mostly trained in Switzerland during the Olympics. She wanted training to be as normal as possible and didn't want to be under the microscope during her practices. Adam said that they didn't get nearly enough ice time in the official practices, but Raf told him not to bother leaving between the team event and the individual event because Adam was having so much fun. (Raf obviously did not tell Nathan the same thing. Nathan left for a few days.)

 

[Tinycities]

According to Google, it's less than one hour each way, though I expect traffic isn't going to be great. Maybe they'll stay in Bergamo and have a bit of calm?

On the latest episode of The Runthrough, Ashley and Adam talked about the best place to train. Ashley said she mostly trained in Switzerland during the Olympics. She wanted training to be as normal as possible and didn't want to be under the microscope during her practices. Adam said that they didn't get nearly enough ice time in the official practices, but Raf told him not to bother leaving between the team event and the individual event because Adam was having so much fun. (Raf obviously did not tell Nathan the same thing. Nathan left for a few days.)

That’s strange. When I Google mapped it from ice lab to where the competition skating will happen it was slightly under 2 hours. The competition arena is south of Milan.

 

[Vagabond]

Google Maps' travel time estimates are for the moment you do the search unless you set them for a different time. Thus, weather conditions, lighting, rush hours, etc. may or not factor into the result.

 

[Karen-W]

That’s strange. When I Google mapped it from ice lab to where the competition skating will happen it was slightly under 2 hours. The competition arena is south of Milan.

Google Maps' travel time estimates are for the moment you do the search unless you set them for a different time. Thus, weather conditions, lighting, rush hours, etc. may or not factor into the result.

Yup. When I looked it up on Google Maps it was about 1 hour from the Unipol Forum and IceLab, but the reverse trip was around 1hr 45min. Same thing going to & from the rink in Varese where the Japanese team will be training and Unipol Forum. I was looking around the time of the morning commute in Milan, which explained the differences in travel times.