The Winter Olympics. It all first started in the year of 1924. Many events immediately became fan favorites, like Downhill Skiing and Snowboarding, but the event that stood out the most was Figure Skating. According to Top End Sports in a 2010 survey, Figure Skating was in the top 5 most popular sports watched in the Winter Olympics. In the past, Russia was a strong competitor and to this day still is, but the Americans Figure skating Team is putting up a challenge. So here lies the question: what top two individuals are likely to win the gold and bring honor to the U.S.?

Nathan Chen is one of the world’s best and most skilled figure skaters so far. He has won the Figure Skating World Championships three times and is a three-time Grand Prix Final Champion, but in the last Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, he wasn’t so lucky. In the short program he ranked the lowest score he ever had in the 2018 season, this free program earned him fourth place. Since then he has made an amazing comeback. He beat two-time gold medal Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu in many events. He also won the most recent U.S Championships, giving him a ticket to the upcoming Winter Olympics.

America’s Sweetheart is none other than the amazing Mariah Bell. She is the oldest person to become the U.S champion since 1927. Her coach is Adam Rippon who earned a bronze medal in the team event at Pyeong Chang In her program, she focuses more on the professional maturity in her presentation rather than technical elements. She earned a total score of 216.25 at Nationals. Her free skate consisted of six triple jumps, half of which was in the second part of the skate, earning her a 1.1 point bonus. 

Overall, the fate of the top of the U.S figure skating team is in good hands. Both of these better-than-life athletes are trained to the highest standards and skate to the best of their abilities. With this in mind, America’s team is more than capable of going for the gold and succeeding. So now rest up and don’t forget to turn on that T.V and watch as Team USA goes for the win.