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One of the marquee events of the Winter Olympics kicks off this weekend with the figure skating team competition.
While figure skaters will still compete for individual medals across men’s, women’s, pairs and ice dance later this month, the first figure skating event of the 2026 Milan Olympics pits 10 countries against each other in a two-round, multi-discipline showdown.
At a Glance: How to Watch Figure Skating at the Winter Olympics 2026
- When: Feb. 6-8 (team event); Feb. 9-19 (individual events)
- Channel: NBC, USA Network
- Stream online: DirecTV, Peacock, Hulu + Live TV
The 2026 Olympic figure skating team event features the world’s ten best figure skating nations, as determined by placements at last year’s World Championships and an Olympic qualifier in the fall. The ten teams send out one skater per discipline to skate a short program (or rhythm dance) in the first round, and the top five countries by placement after that qualify for the medal round. They’ll send out one skater per discipline once again (this time to skate a free program) and the countries with the highest number of points will form the Olympic podium.
How to Watch Figure Skating at the Olympics on TV
NBC is the official broadcaster for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics and the network will air figure skating during its primetime broadcasts. You can watch Olympic figure skating on TV through your local NBC affiliate with basic cable (or a digital antenna like this one, which gets you a live NBC feed for free).
Select portions of the competition will air on USA Network so you’ll need a cable package that includes USA to watch those Olympic figure skating events on TV.
How to Watch Figure Skating at the Olympics Online
Don’t have cable or want to stream figure skating online? There are a few ways to watch the team event and the individual competition over the internet, including a couple of ways to stream it for free.
DirecTV
DirecTV is a live streaming service that lets you watch 90+ TV channels over the internet without needing cable. DirecTV’s lineup includes a live NBC feed, so you can use it to watch the Olympic figure event skating live online. Don’t want to commit to a subscription? DirecTV has a five-day free trial that you can get here to livestream figure skating at the Olympics for free.
Peacock
Peacock is the official streaming home of the 2026 Winter Olympics and the streamer will carry a live feed of every single figure skating competition from Milan. While Peacock doesn’t offer a free trial, you can get unlimited access for just $10.99/month. The price includes live and on-demand streaming of all the Olympics events plus thousands of TV shows, movies, documentaries and specials.
Hulu + Live TV
Hulu is home to acclaimed series and movies but the streamer’s Hulu + Live TV arm also includes access to 90+ live television channels online. The lineup includes NBC and USA Network, so you can use Hulu + Live TV to livestream figure skating at the Olympics without cable. The streamer currently has a three-day free trial offer that you can use to test-drive the service without commitment. Use the free trial to watch Olympic figure skating online for free.
All three streaming services above let you watch figure skating at the Olympics online through your computer, tablet, phone or smart TV.
Figure Skating at the 2026 Olympics: Competitors, Favorites
In the team event, the U.S. is led by three-time world ice dance champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates, two-time men’s champion Ilia Malinin (a.k.a. “Quad God”) and reigning women’s world champion Alysa Liu.
The United States won the competition at the 2022 Beijing Olympics with Japan coming in second and Russia finishing third (the Russians are not currently banned from participating in the Olympics due to their war on Ukraine).
At the 2025 World Team Trophy, team Italy finished third and the host Italians will be looking to repeat or better their placement in Milan. Georgia and Canada are also medal contenders for the figure skating team event podium.
In the individual event, all three reigning world champions from the U.S. are favored for gold, though Liu will face stiff competition from teammate Amber Glenn and three-time world champ (and Beijing 2022 bronze medalist) Kaori Sakamoto.
In the ice dance event, Chock and Bates will be challenged for gold by reigning Olympic gold medalist Guillaume Cizeron and his new partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry, who represent France.
The pairs event should be a showdown between teams from China, Japan, Georgia and host Italy. The U.S. pairs champions, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, are not in Milan, due to the Finnish-born Efimova not currently holding U.S. citizenship.
Watch the 2026 Olympic figure skating competition live online through Peacock or watch it for free with a free trial to DirecTV here.
