Four-time national champion Jeremy Abbott struggled in the team men’s short program, leaving Team USA in seventh place with a score of 65.65. Abbott fell on his opening quad loop attempt and popped his triple axel. Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu finished in first, ahead of Russia’s Evgeni Plushenko and Canada’s Patrick Chan.
With only the top five teams qualifying to the free skate, the pairs team of Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir knew they needed a good skate to help the team move up in the standings. Despite some problems with their side-by-side salchows, Castelli and Shnapir received an international personal best of 64.25 points. They finished in 5th, which helped Team U.S. gain some points. The U.S. currently has 10 points and is in a three-way tie with Germany and France. After tiebreakers, they are currently seventh place.
U.S. Figure Skating announced Friday morning that Ashley Wagner and the ice dance team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White will skate their short programs on Saturday. U.S. Figure Skating has yet to announce who will skate their free skates for the men and pairs if the U.S. is to qualify to the free skate. The pairs’ free skate is also Saturday.
Here’s a look at the current team standings:
Current Team Standings
1. Russia (19 pts)
2. Canada (17 pts)
3. China (15 pts)
4. Japan (13 pts)
5. Germany (10 pts)
6. France (10 pts)
7. USA (10 pts)
8. Italy (8 pts)
9. Ukraine (5 pts)
10. Great Britain (3 pts)
Olympic Schedule (We will be posting a daily TV schedule each day)
No competition on Friday. Opening ceremonies at 7:30 p.m. (EST) on NBC.
Saturday February 8: 9:30 a.m. (EST): Team Event: Ice Dance Short Program (Live on NBC Sports Network or NBCOlympics.com). Meryl Davis and Charlie White are scheduled to skate around 10:43 a.m.)
Saturday February 8: 11:10 a.m. (EST): Team Event: Ladies Short Program (Live on NBC SportsNetwork or NBCOlympics.com) Ashley Wagner scheduled to skate around 12:04 p.m.)
Saturday February 8: 1:05 p.m. (EST) Team Event: Pairs Free Skate (Live on NBCOlympics.com) U.S. Figure Skating has yet to announce the pair team competing for free skate.
If you are not able catch it live, NBC will have coverage starting at 8:00 p.m. (EST) in its Primetime coverage.
Social Media
FSO has decided to provide as much live updates on Twitter as we can. If you would like to follow our live updates, make sure you follow @FSOnline on Twitter or staff member Gina Capellazzi @ginaballerina. Also make sure to follow our skaters on Twitter. They are posting lots of updates from Sochi.
