This year, from Feb. 6 to 22, athletes from across the world have made their way to Italy to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics. There are 16 disciplines throughout the eight sports. The core events are ski mountering, freestyle skiing & snowboarding, sliding sports, ice sports, skiing, and curling. In terms of ice sports, there is hockey, speed skating, and the sport that has captured the eyes of people across the globe is ice skating.
In figure skating, there are four different disciplines: men’s singles, women’s singles, pairs, and ice dance. Jumps and advanced techniques are shown in the singles and pairs events; on the other hand, ice dance captures more rhythmic skating abilities without jumps. Within each discipline, there is a short program that is around 2 to 3 minutes and the free skate, which ranges from 4 minutes. Both programs require the skater to complete three spins and one step sequence. During the short program, skaters are limited to three jumps, while in the free skate, it can range all the way up to seven.
Scoring jumps is an interesting concept within ice skating. Aspects from the take off for the jump, what edge the release on, as well as what foot they land on all affect scoring. There are six types of jumps, the hardest being the axel. The more rotations a skater achieves, the more points they score. If they are scored badly on their jump, a jump with fewer rotations may score higher.
The United States has a stacked team across the entirety of the Olympics, especially within figure skating. They have three world champions: Alyssa Liu, Chock Bates, and Ilia Malinin. Malinin is commonly known as the “quad god” because he is the only person ever to land a quad axel at a competition. Last December, he completed the highest-scoring free skate ever.
Alyssa Liu is easily spotted with her alternative appearance. She not only has piercings, but also has interesting hair with prominent bleached stripes. Her hair is based on three rings, where she will bleach a new ring each year. With a high skill level for her age, she has placed multiple times at world championships for ice skating. She originally retired at 16; however, she recently came back to figure skating. During the 2026 Winter Olympics, she brought home gold.
Through Liu’s story, she teaches a lesson to many aspiring Americans: sometimes you need to take a step away from what you love to truly realize how much you adore it.
