Team USA finished the second night of the three-day competition in second place in the Olympic Ice Skating Team event.
Skating to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Vincent Zhou of Palo Alto, CA completed three quads and three level 4 spins, but bailed out of a fourth quad and did a single instead.
“It wasn’t a lights-out skate, obviously,” Zhou said to Sports Illustrated, “but it wasn’t a disaster. I’m better trained to let a disaster happen.”
Zhou finished the long skate in third place earning Team USA eight points.
Chen finished the women’s short program in fifth and added six points to Team USA’s total. Chen fell on her triple loop.
“I’m definitely disappointed about the loop, because I should’ve hit it, and I know I can hit it, and if I had the chance to go out there and do it again, I know I can hit it,” she said according to Fan Zone. “But I’m proud of the fight that I had in my performance, and also now I know how the competition nerves are going to feel, I know how Olympic ice feels with competition nerves, so I can better prepare for my next event.”
The Russian Olympic Committee will go into the final night of the competition in first place and a heavy favorite to come home with a gold. The ROC leads with 45 points. Team USA is three points behind and Japan is third with 39.
Zhou isn’t ready to concede anything yet.
“It’s not over until it’s over,” he said. “I know that the rest of our team is extremely strong, and everyone here is prepared to get their part of the job done. So I believe in my teammates, and I fully support them all the way.”
The team event concludes tonight with the pairs free skate, free dance, and women’s free skate.
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