What Is The Team Figure Skating Event at Pyeongchang Winter Olympics 2018?

Tonight, the first figure skating event will kick off at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games with the team event.

Team USA has chosen Nathan Chen and married pairs skaters Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim to rep them on the ice for the event.

So, what exactly is the team event? It’s kind of like the team event in gymnastics at the Summer Olympics.

There will be a short program and free skate is held in each of the four disciplines: men’s, women’s, pairs and ice dance. Skaters are judged as usual, but teams are scored based on placements within their discipline.

So, if a first-place performance would earn a country 10 points, a second-place performance would earn nine points, and so on.

Team USA still has to choose a rep for the ladies and ice dance sections. However, countries are allowed two substitutions, meaning that for two of those three disciplines a different skater or team can be used in the short and free.

After each of the short programs, the top five highest-scoring teams advance to the free program round. At the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Team USA earned a bronze medal for the inaugural event.

You can watch it TONIGHT, starting @ 8PM on NBC.