Which Figure Skaters Have a Good Shot at Gold?

Olympic figure skating began Friday morning in Beijing with the team event, in which men’s and women’s singles skaters, pairs and ice dancers all compete and combine their scores for their countries.

Once that event concludes on Monday, the marquee events begin. Here are the favored skaters to watch in the individual, pairs and ice dancing competitions:

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Which Figure Skaters Have a Good Shot at Gold?

The men’s individual competition features a familiar American-Japanese duel, while the women’s singles will probably be dominated by Russians.

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Practicing in Beijing on Thursday.

Practicing in Beijing on Thursday.Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

By Jeré Longman

Feb. 3, 2022

Olympic figure skating began Friday morning in Beijing with the team event, in which men’s and women’s singles skaters, pairs and ice dancers all compete and combine their scores for their countries.

Once that event concludes on Monday, the marquee events begin. Here are the favored skaters to watch in the individual, pairs and ice dancing competition:

Nathan Chen of the United States and Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan were the favorites at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. But Chen appeared overwhelmed by the moment during the short program in the individual competition, finishing a distant 17th place. He recovered to win the long program but could hoist himself only to fifth place overall, while Hanyu won his second individual gold medal.

In the years that followed, Chen became a three-time world champion and the first to complete five types of quadruple jumps while on a long unbeaten streak. But nerves seemed to strike again last fall when he stumbled through the short program at Skate America, an international Grand Prix event, and he finished third overall. He won the United States championships last month but fell twice in the free skate.

He may have to skate cleanly to defeat Hanyu, a more elegant skater who is seeking to become just the second man, and the first in nearly a century, to win three consecutive gold medals. Hanyu is expected to attempt a quadruple axel, the sport’s most difficult jump, and could become the first person to land one in competition. Chen has defeated Hanyu in their last three head-to-head matchups.

Ice dancing

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Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume CizeronCredit...Margaret Cheatham Williams/The New York Times

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Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir

Tessa Virtue and Scott MoirCredit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Long known for its kitschy vibe, ice dancing has been taken in a more ethereal, lyrical direction by the French couple Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, who are four-time world champions. Papadakis experienced an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction during the short program at the 2018 Olympics and the couple finished less than a point behind the eventual champions, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada, for the gold medal.

This season, Papadakis and Cizeron have taken acute measures to avoid the coronavirus pandemic, including skipping the European championships last month in Estonia. But, if they are at their best in Beijing, the French couple may be the most engaging of all the skaters in any discipline with a style described as “music floating around the ice.”