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The power of teamwork: Inside U.S. figure skating’s new Olympic golden age

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The power of teamwork: Inside U.S. figure skating’s new Olympic golden age

Amber Glenn achieved a lifelong goal, sealing her Olympic bid by winning her third consecutive U.S. championship last month. Her first celebration came with her opponents.

“We all deserve it,” Glenn said with her arms wrapped around national silver medalist Alysa Liu and bronze medalist Isabeau Levito.

The spirit of collaboration has brought U.S. figure skating into a new golden age. The 16-athlete team the United States sent to Milan may be the country’s strongest Olympic team in decades. With three reigning world champions and three current Grand Prix final champions, the United States is poised for one of its best Olympic Games ever in figure skating.

The U.S. record for most medals in figure skating at a single Olympics is five from 1956, when the U.S. swept the podium for the men’s singles competition. The country has never won three figure skating gold medals in one Games.

“We’re all in this together,” said Justin Dillon, U.S. Figure Skating senior director of athlete high performance. “We’re all working towards those goals. … I very much appreciate our athletes really wanting to outdo themselves, outdo each other but with respect and at the highest level possible.”

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The United States is almost assured a repeat gold in the men’s singles event with Ilia Malinin, whose unmatched quad axel has him on a two-and-a-half-year winning streak. Ice dancers Evan Bates and Madison Chock are three-time defending world champions who return to their fourth — and likely final — Olympics together poised to earn the only individual medal that has eluded them.

And the women’s team has three strong contenders to end a 20-year Olympic medal drought. Liu is the reigning world champion and Grand Prix Final champion. Levito took silver at the world championships in 2024. Glenn outpaced both to win another U.S. championship.

Making her Olympic debut, the 26-year-old said she came through the sport between two generations of skaters. Glenn saw how the pressure of comparison impacted her older peers and wanted to ensure the culture among female skaters could be healthy for athletes coming after her. How she did it was by talking through her nerves with the athletes who knew exactly what she was feeling.

“To be able to have a good, healthy teammate-like relationship with those people, I think, has benefited all of us tremendously,” Glenn said. “Because we bring each other up rather than trying to just step on each other to get higher up.”

Amber Glenn, left, and Alysa Liu give each other a high-five while training at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Monday.

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(Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

With three individual gold medals in sight, the United States is also favored to win team gold for the second consecutive Games. The team competition begins Friday with the rhythm dance and women’s and pairs short programs.

The opportunity for a second team gold medal comes after the 2022 Olympic title came with controversy. The United States finished second, but was awarded the gold after Russian skater Kamila Valieva was disqualified because of a positive drug test from a sample submitted two months before the Games. The medal ceremony was canceled. With the investigation hanging over the then-15-year-old competing in the premier event of the Winter Olympics, Valieva struggled during the individual competition and broke down in tears in the kiss-and-cry.

The doping scandal, combined with the pandemic, made it feel like “a dark cloud was over [the sport],” 2018 Olympian Adam Rippon said.

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“If I was a young kid, I don’t know if that would motivate me or get me on my hands and knees to beg my mom to take group classes. All of those women ended up in tears,” Rippon said. “I think that this Olympics is going to be so different.

“I think that this Olympics, there’s going to be so many people who become more interested in skating and want to follow it year round. And also a lot of young kids who are like, you know what? I want to be just like Ilia. I want to be just like Amber Glenn.”

U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin takes part in a training session at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Tuesday.

U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin takes part in a training session at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Wednesday. Malinin is the favorite for gold in the men’s competition.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Interest in figure skating is already up. The women’s and pairs free skate competitions at the U.S. championships were NBC’s most-watched U.S. figure skating telecast since 2019, averaging 2.5 million viewers. The audience for the men’s free skate — where Malinin won his fourth consecutive national title — and ice dance jumped 51% from the corresponding pre-2022 Winter Games telecast to 2.2 million viewers.

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Still, the sport is far behind its heyday when figure skating was the second-most watched sport in the United States after the NFL.

The 1994 women’s technical program, which featured Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding a month after Kerrigan was struck on the knee with a baton, drew the third-highest TV rating for any sporting event at the time. Only Super Bowls XVI and XVII were rated higher.

The sport was built on rivalries. Skating was a “dog eat dog” sport, said Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic champion who was pitted against Canadian Brian Orser in “The Battle of the Brians.” Opponents were friendly, but certainly not friends, Boitano said.

This golden age of skating is built equally on camaraderie and competition. The sight of Liu and Levito standing behind the boards, jumping and cheering for Glenn when she finished her free skate to win her third U.S. championship went almost as viral as Glenn’s winning performance.

“To see this team supporting each other like they have, I feel like that’s the thing that … can make people love them,” Boitano said. “They are so lovable, and they are so inspiring, and it’s so refreshing, especially in this day and age.”

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Figure skaters (from left) Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, Isabeau Levito and Bradie Tennell pose with their medals.

Figure skaters (from left) Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, Isabeau Levito and Bradie Tennell pose with their medals at the U.S. figure skating championships on Jan. 9.

(Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)

Younger skaters often ask the legends what the sport was like during the previous generation. Boitano recalls professional competitions, sold-out cross-country tours and TV shows. But the magic was the skaters on the ice, he said. The diverse cast of characters assembled over multiple Olympic cycles included Scott Hamilton, Boitano, Katarina Witt, Debi Thomas, Kristi Yamaguchi, Philippe Candeloro and Surya Bonaly.

Boitano is thrilled to pass the torch to the current generation knowing even the stars of his time couldn’t match this group’s success in one key area: The United States had never previously won three world championships in a single year.

“I honestly think if this crew can’t bring back the popularity of figure skating,” Boitano said, “I don’t think it can be done.”

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Mike Breen says fans ‘deserve to be thrown a bone’ as NBA cuts all local broadcasts from the playoffs

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Mike Breen says fans ‘deserve to be thrown a bone’ as NBA cuts all local broadcasts from the playoffs

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Mike Breen, the New York Knicks’ play-by-play announcer and star NBA voice with ESPN, is not happy with a key league move heading into the NBA Playoffs.

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And he didn’t hold back his frustrations during the Knicks’ regular-season finale on Sunday night.

For the first time in NBA history, all local network broadcasts are being pushed out of the playoffs for nationally televised games. Those networks paid a premium to air the playoffs, but the league had always allowed the local home broadcast to be aired as well as the national TV spots in previous seasons.

ESPN play-by-play sports commentator Mike Breen looks on prior to the game between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 25, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Celtics defeated the 76ers 110-107. (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Breen, alongside his longtime partner, Knicks great Walt “Clyde” Frazier, ripped the league’s decision on the final day of his broadcasting duties for the Eastern Conference squad.

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“First time ever that no longer can the home team announcers and broadcasters televise the first round,” Breen mentioned during the 110-96 loss to the Charlotte Hornets while broadcasting on MSG.

KNICKS BROADCASTER’S JOKE COMPARING BULLS’ ‘OBLITERATED’ DEFENSE TO IRAN LEAVES PARTNER STUNNED

“The entire playoffs are exclusive to national TV broadcasters. I mentioned this earlier this season. I think, personally, Clyde, it’s a poor decision. Fans want to hear their home team announcers, at least in the first round. For so many of us, they become part of the family.”

Breen added that he understands “the networks pay a fortune for exclusivity,” granted he works for one of those networks on ESPN.

“But fans deserve to be thrown a bone once in a while in terms of letting the home team have a little bit of the first round,” he continued.

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The NBA reached a whopping $76 billion broadcast rights deal that kicked in at the start of this season, and it will last for the next 11 seasons. Like other pro sports leagues, the deal is carved out across various platforms, both long-standing networks and streaming.

ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Breen calls the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 17, 2024. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)

While the NBA got together the deal it liked with Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal, Breen hopes it would consider working something out to get local broadcasters back into the fold for the playoffs.

However, he knows how the business is at the end of the day.

“Somehow, if there’s any way they can work out some kind of compromise, I’m not hopeful for that, but it would be wonderful to have it because this is our final telecast of the season,” Breen said.

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Breen, now, will focus on his ESPN duties as the lead commentator for the “Worldwide Leader” on the court. His famous “Bang!” call on clutch three-pointers has been synonymous with the biggest moments in the NBA Playoffs for years now, and that will get started very soon as teams in both the East and West gun for their shot at the Larry O’Brien Trophy and to call themselves NBA Finals champions.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning Finals champs, are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference once again, while teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers will battle them to be crowned conference champions.

Mike Breen looks on before the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers during Round 2 Game 3 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals 2023 NBA Playoffs on May 6, 2023 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images)

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In the East, Breen’s Knicks own the No. 3 seed, while the Detroit Pistons (No. 1) and Boston Celtics (No. 2) had successful regular-season campaigns to earn a top spot heading into the playoffs.

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The Play-In Tournament will be the first games for the NBA Playoffs, which will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Then, the first round will split its tipoffs on NBC/Peacock, Prime Video and ESPN.

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Jonathan Quick, who won two Stanley Cup titles with Kings, announces retirement from NHL

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Jonathan Quick, who won two Stanley Cup titles with Kings, announces retirement from NHL

New York Rangers goalkeeper Jonathan Quick is calling it a career after 19 NHL seasons and three Stanley Cup championships — with 16 of those seasons and two championships as a member of the Kings.

The 40-year-old goalie told reporters Monday that he would be playing in his final game that night when the Rangers visit the Florida Panthers. It will mark Quick’s 921st game appearance, counting playoffs.

“Tonight will be my last game in the league, and I am looking forward to it,” Quick said following the morning skate ahead at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. “My wife flew down with the kids, my parents will be here. I am looking forward to this last one, try to get one more win here.”

He added of his decision: “It just felt right. Felt like the right time. I put some thought into it.”

Selected by the Kings in the third round of the 2005 draft, Quick became a fixture in front of the net for L.A. during the 2008-09 season. He was a key member of the Kings’ Stanley Cup champion teams in 2012 and 2014, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs with a 16-4 record, a .946 save percentage and 1.41 goals-against average.

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Quick won a silver medal as a backup goaltender for the U.S. at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, although he did not see any playing time. At the 2014 Sochi Games, Quick went 3-2 as the starting goalie for the fourth-place U.S. team.

By March 2023, Quick was the Kings’ leader among goalies in the categories of total games (743), wins (370) and shutouts (57). At age 37, however, he had also lost a step or two. The Kings traded him to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who turned around and dealt him to the Vegas Golden Knights the next day.

Quick saw a decent amount of playing time down the stretch in the regular season because of injuries to the Golden Knights’ goaltenders. He didn’t make it into any games during the team’s championship run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

After spending the last three seasons in New York, Quick is set to make his 70th and final start with the Rangers and add the final numbers to a stat line that currently includes 20,315 saves (18th most all time), 410 wins (12th most) and 65 shutouts (17th).

“He earned the respect of his teammates, coaches and staff members through his work ethic and dedication to his craft,” Rangers general manager Chris Drury said in a statement posted on social media. “Jonathan is a special person and player, and the entire Rangers organization wishes him — along with his wife, Jackie, and three children, Madison, Carter and Cash — all the best in retirement.”

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The Rangers are 33-38-9 and will miss the playoffs for the second straight season. They finish the year Wednesday night at Tampa Bay.

Another key member of the Kings championship teams, Anze Kopitar, also is retiring after this season, following 20 years in the NHL, all with L.A.

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ESPN star calls for 2017 Masters winner to have his lifetime exemption removed after meltdown

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ESPN star calls for 2017 Masters winner to have his lifetime exemption removed after meltdown

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ESPN star Mike Greenberg called for Sergio Garcia’s lifetime exemption into the Masters Tournament to be pulled after his antics on the course in the final round on Sunday.

Garcia received a code of conduct warning after he smashed his driver in frustration at Augusta National. He slammed his club into the turf twice after hitting a shot that ended up in the bunker. Then he took a swipe at a table with a green cooler on it.

ESPN personality Mike Greenberg is interviewed on radio row at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 1, 2017, ahead of Super Bowl LI. (Jerry Lai/USA TODAY Sports)

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Greenberg seemingly saw Garcia’s anger as a detrimental issue.

“A lifetime exemption is a privilege extended by Augusta to its champions out of respect,” he wrote on X. “If that respect is not reciprocated, there is no law that says a past champ cannot be banned.

RORY MCILROY REPEATS AS MASTERS CHAMPION, JOINS RARE COMPANY AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL

Sergio Garcia lines up a putt on the second green during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on Apr. 9, 2026. (Michael Madrid/Imagn Images)

“I’m not sure they should have Sergio Garcia back after the garbage he pulled today.”

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Garcia, who competes in LIV Golf, won the Masters in 2017. It is his only major victory of his career. Since winning in 2017, he only made the cut for the final two rounds once. The feat came at this year’s tournament. He finished 52nd in the field.

Sergio Garcia plays his shot on the seventeenth hole during the second round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on April 10, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)

He joined LIV Golf in 2022 as he was among the PGA Tour stars who left the organization. He has two wins in the series – at LIV Golf Andalucía in 2024 and LIV Golf Hong Kong in 2025. He played his way into a playoff four times, only winning the Andalucía event.

Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.

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