SportsOlympics

Team USA wins silver medal in team figure skating

Beijing Olympics Figure Skating
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Team USA clinched the silver medal in the team figure skating competition on Monday at the Beijing Olympics.

According to NBC Olympics, this marked the first silver in the event after taking home bronze at the Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games.

Team USA won silver behind a stellar performance by Madison Chock and partner Evan Bates, who scored 129.17, with Karen Chen locking it up with her performance in the free skate.

Team USA consisted of Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Alexa Knierim, Brandon Frazier (pairs), Chock, Bates, Madison Hubbell, and Zachary Donohue (ice dance).

This win marks the second Olympic medal for Nathan Chen and Knierim.

Chock and Bates' score was less than a point ahead of the world champion Russians, who were penalized for an overly long lift.

But that penalty didn't hurt Russia too bad since they clinched the gold medal with 74 total points behind the strong performances by 15-year-old Kamila Valieva; Japan earned the bronze with 63 points.

It was announced Monday that Zhou would not participate in the individual competition after testing positive for COVID-19.