After three days of dramatic and often surprising competition, the United States claimed the Olympic gold medal in the figure skating team competition on Sunday night.
It wasn’t easy.
After carrying a five-point lead into the final day of the event, the Americans found themselves locked in a tie with Japan entering the men’s free skate, the last segment of the competition.
It would all come down to Ilia Malinin, the two-time reigning world champion in his debut Olympics. The 21-year-old had struggled with nerves during his short program Saturday and stepped out of his triple axel before under-rotating his quad lutz to finish in a staggering second place — a rarity for him and more than 10 points out of first.
The stakes Sunday couldn’t have been higher as his teammates anxiously watched as he took the ice with their fate on his blades.
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