Olympic team figure skating: Everything you need to know

There, athletes will compete their long programs ... but there's a twist. Each nation is allowed two "splits" in this round, meaning they can substitute in another skater/duo in the hopes of scoring more points. 

There's a real strategy to this. If a nation has two strong competitors in one discipline, it may "split" them between programs to balance their load and preserve their energy; think Team USA leveraging Alysa Liu and Amber Glenn instead of just one of them. If it only has one strong competitor, it may ask them to perform twice. 

Doing so increases the nation's chance at winning a team skating medal, but may tire out the athlete and lower their chance at winning a medal within their own discipline down the line. There can be controversy if nations and skaters aren't aligned on their priorities here.

After the long program, each nation's scores are tallied again. The top three countries win gold, silver and bronze medals, and every single skater who participated gets to take one home.

Which nations tend to dominate it?

Team figure skating debuted at the 2014 Games in Sochi, so we only have three Olympic cycles' worth of history to work from here. Still, those three cycles have been telling: Russia and the United States have medaled every time.

In 2026, though, it's all about the United States and Japan. Things are simply too close to call between the two nations, and there's a wide gap between them and the rest of the competitive field. They're widely expected to take home the gold and silver medals between them, with Canada, France and Georgia battling it out for the bronze.

What makes Team USA and Japan so competitive?

Easy: one likely first-place finish, two likely podium finishes and one event they're comfortable throwing away.

Team USA: should win the men's event, place highly in women's and ice dancing and struggle in pairs

Japan: should win the pairs event, place highly in women's and men's and struggle in ice dancing

When the men's, pairs and ice dancing scores are all added up, Team USA and Japan are expected to be in a dead heat. That means the gold medal is likely to come down to the women's event.

Team USA selected reigning world champion Alysa Liu to skate its short program. Japan selected defending Olympic bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto to challenge her. It's worth keeping a very close eye on both of them.

When will the team event take place?

The team event is set to take place between Friday, Feb. 6, and Sunday, Feb. 8:

Friday, Feb. 6: ice dance short program, pairs short program, women's short program 

Saturday, Feb. 7: men's short program, ice dance long program

Sunday, Feb. 8: pairs long program, women's long program, men's long program