Figure skating is one of the most popular Winter Olympic sports, and for good reason. What these athletes do, individually or in pairs, on the ice is nothing short of stunning and truly awesome — probably because most people can’t imagine hurling themselves through the air while doing any number of rotations before landing perfectly on a super thin blade.
Following the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this month, the American figure skating team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics was finalized. Individually, Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown will represent Team USA in the men’s competition, while Mariah Bell, Karen Chen and Alysa Liu will do the same in the women’s competition.
So ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics in February, For The Win sat down with Tara Lipinski — the 1998 figure skating Olympic gold medalist who’s now an NBC Sports commentator — to talk figure skating and break down the top storylines fans should look out for.
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This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.