Canada finishes fifth in team figure skating event

The Americans have defended their figure skating crown.

Team USA beat Japan to capture back-to-back gold medals in the figure skating team event at the Winter Olympics. Italy finished third to earn bronze, while Canada was unable to capture a medal after placing fifth.

Led by Ilia Malinin, Amber Glenn, Madison Chock, Evan Bates, Alysa Liu, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the U.S. earned 69 points, beating out Japan by a single point while Italy finished with 60 points and Canada had 54 points.

In the end, it all came down to the men’s free skate as Malinin pulled out his signature quad axel and landed a backflip on one leg. His program earned him 200.03 points, which provided the U.S. with the maximum 10 points, while Shun Sato of Japan had a 194.86 total score.

Canadian rising star Stephen Gogolev finished fourth in the men’s program with a 171.93 total score.

Figure skating at the Olympics rolls on Monday with the start of the ice dance competition. The men’s singles event starts Feb. 10 with the short program and concludes on Feb. 13 with the free skate. The women’s singles opens Feb. 17 with the short program and wraps Feb. 19 with the free skate.