A strong short program from Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford helped power Canada to top spot after the first day of competition in the team figure skating event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Duhamel and Radford, competing in the pairs short, earned a 76.57 score with a clean performance in Pyeongchang. They trailed only the Olympic Athletes from Russia pair of Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who scored 80.92 on a commanding skate.
The Canadian pair's second-place showing followed Patrick Chan's third-place finish from a few hours earlier, giving Canada 17 points after two skates. The United States sits in second spot with 14 points, with Japan and the Russians tied at 13 points.
🔢 Results Team Event after Pairs Short Program
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Chan struggled in the men's short program, taking two falls en route to an 81.66 score. It wasn't the best of starts for the 27-year-old, who didn't come close to his personal best of 102.13.
“Obviously, I am not super happy with the skate. I am going to be here a while and there are a lot of programs to be competed," Chan said. "It’s not the best start I wanted, but I have the support of my teammates. They make me feel so much better even when it’s not the best skate, they are holding me up and making me feel like I belong here."
Despite his own disappointment, Chan finished third after several other competitors also stumbled in the opening event of the team competition. American Nathan Chen, a gold medal favourite in the men's individual event, fell twice and finished fourth with 80.61 points.
Japan's Shoma Uno fell once but managed to claim top spot with a score of 103.25, while Alexei Bychenko of Israel pulled off a clean skate and finished second at 88.49.
The team competition continues at 8 p.m. ET Saturday with the ice dancing short program, followed by the women's short program and pairs free skate.