Hopes high for Ilia Malinin, U.S. Olympic skating team
ESPN••sports
Key Points:
- World champion Ilia Malinin, along with ice dance duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates, will lead a strong U.S. figure skating team at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics next month, with Malinin favored to win men's gold.
- Chock and Bates, seven-time U.S. champions and three-time consecutive world champions, are Olympic favorites after helping the U.S. win team gold in Beijing and aiming to improve on their fourth-place finish in ice dance.
- Alysa Liu, returning for her second Olympics after a brief retirement, and Amber Glenn, a three-time national champion, headline the women's team aiming to secure the U.S.'s first women's figure skating medal since 2006.
- The pairs team includes
