How to watch the men’s figure skating short program online
Can Team USA claim its first men’s figure skating medal since 2010?
Now that the team and pairs competitions are over, it’s the men’s turn to compete for a solo medal in figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The first of the two-part event will get underway on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC (live stream) with the men’s short program, followed by the free skate on Friday.
One of the best things to happen to this year’s Winter Games has been American figure skater Adam Rippon. Not only did he become one of the first openly gay men to win a Winter Olympic medal (team bronze), but he’s been making people laugh or just putting a smile on their faces along the way. He’s had a chance to rub elbows with Elmo, relive a funny media encounter from when he was 12 years old, and then absolutely nail his performance during his Olympic debut.
Now he’ll take the ice for one of his biggest competitions in Pyeongchang. But Rippon isn’t the only American looking for a spot on the medal podium in the men’s event. Teammates Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou also have good chances to finish near the top of the leaderboard in the men’s competition.
Chen is the only skater to have mastered five different types of quads: the toe loop, flip, loop, lutz and salchow, which makes his potential score much higher than some of the other skaters. He had a rough debut during the team event earlier in the week, claiming fourth place for his try at the short program.
“I just need to go over everything I did well and wrong,” Chen said, according to NBC. “Try to fix the things I did wrong and make sure I clean things up.”
Zhou is the youngest member of Team USA in any sport, having just turned 17 in late-October. He’s a little less experienced than some of his counterparts on the international scene, but Zhou finished second (behind Chen) at the 2017 U.S. Championships and went on to claim gold at the World Junior Championships.
The United States holds the lead with most figure skating medals ever won at the Winter Olympics (50) and will look to add to and keep its spot at the top following the 2018 Games.
How to watch
Event: Men’s figure skating: short program
Date: Thursday, Feb. 15
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Online Streaming: NBC Olympics | FuboTV