Ilia Malinin seals team figure skating gold for Team USA

Their final scores were close—uncomfortably so—but "Quad God" Malinin pulled through to win the event and push Team USA to 69 points across all eight rotations. Japan finished just behind with 68, while Italy earned 60 points to take the bronze and earn just its third figure skating medal in history.

Unlikely heroes

Malinin's do-or-die skate sealed the gold for Team USA, but it was the pairs duo of Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea who put him in the position to do it. They entered their long program as the lowest-ranked team in the competition and were likely—perhaps even expected—to finish in last place and earn Team USA just six points.

Kam and O'Shea's program didn't have enough difficulty to compete with the top skaters of the night, but they executed it brilliantly regardless. They earned a personal-best score on the program and finished their final rotation in fourth place instead of fifth. That unexpected bump earned Team USA seven points instead of six in its overall tally. Malinin's final-round efforts would've been moot if not for that unexpected extra point.

Room for improvement

While Kam and O'Shea overperformed their expected points tally, and American champion Glenn underperformed hers, to add jeopardy to Team USA's medal challenge. Her long program stumbles dropped her to third in the women's rankings and cost Team USA a crucial point. 

This was Glenn's Olympic debut; at 26 years old, she's the oldest Olympic figure skating debutante in nearly a century. She took the ice with clear nerves despite nailing her routine time and time again in practice. Team USA will hope that Glenn shakes out her jitters in this team event; she's a medal hopeful in the women's individual competition.

What's next

The individual discipline medal competitions are set to begin right away. Ice dance comes first on Monday; Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates will battle France's Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry for gold in that event. The men's event will follow on Tuesday, where "Quad God" Malinin is the clear favorite. 

The pairs event is set for Sunday, Feb. 15, but Team USA is unlikely to challenge for a medal in that discipline. It will, however, launch a serious bid for gold in the women's event on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Liu, Glenn and Isabeau Levito—the American trio nicknamed the "Blade Angels"—are all expected to challenge for the podium.