Team USA is in the top 10 after the pairs short program at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier lead the U.S. contingent with 74.23 points and sixth place. Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc are seventh place with 74.13 points. This is the first time since 1998 that the U.S. had two pairs in the top 10 after an Olympic short program.
Knierim and Frazier, who also competed in the team event, performed their program to “House of the Rising Sun” by the Heavy Young Heathens. They opened with a Level 4 triple twist and scored Level 4 on four additional elements to earn 74.23 points.
“We've trained so hard to endure whatever is brought to us,” Knierim said. “I feel like today we did a good job of just staying focused no matter what we felt and just delivered the best that we could with what we are given.”
In their Olympic debut, Cain-Gribble and LeDuc performed their short program to music from The White Crow, opening with a Level 4 triple twist and scoring four additional Level 4 elements. They earned a personal-best 74.13 points.
“Officially, we’re Olympians now, and that’s amazing to say,” Cain-Gribble said. “To get a season’s best score, it makes all those days of hard work and ups and downs so worth it.”
China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han are in the lead with 84.41 points. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) are second with 84.25, and the ROC’s Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov are third with 82.76.
The pairs free skate concludes competition at the Capital Indoor Stadium beginning tomorrow, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. (6 a.m. ET). Fans can follow along on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone Competition Central.
