Shibutanis Grab Ice Dancing Bronze Medal at Winter Olympics
2/20/2018 12:15:00 AM | General, Olympics
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PYEONGCHANG, South Korea -- Former University of Michigan students Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani captured Olympic bronze in the ice dancing competition Tuesday morning (Feb. 20) at Gangneung Ice Arena. It was second medal of the Games for the duo, who helped the USA claim bronze in the figure skating team event last week.
Performing to a piano-heavy version of Coldplay's "Paradise" in their free dance, the "ShibSibs" scored 114.86 -- close to their season best -- to surge into first place (192.59 overall) with three routines remaining.
It took a pair of record-breaking performances to knock them from the top spot. France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron scored a world-record 123.35 in the free dance, upping their overall score to a world-record 205.28 -- only to be bested by Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who posted a 122.40 in the free dance to secure a world-record 206.07 overall score. The Canadian duo, who also captured Olympic gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games and silver in Sochi in 2014, posted a world-record 83.67 in the short dance the previous night.
The Shibutanis entered the free-dance portion in fourth place -- just .02 points out of medal position behind 2018 U.S. champions Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue -- after recording a 77.73 in the short dance program. It was the second Olympic Games appearance for the Shibutani siblings, who claimed ninth place (155.17) in their debut at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Evan Bates, a 2013 Michigan graduate, and his partner, Madison Chock, also represented the USA and finished in ninth place with an overall score of 175.58 points after suffering a late fall in the free dance. It was his third Olympic appearance and second with Chock. They finished in eighth place in the event at the 2014 Games.
This marks the third straight Winter Olympics at which a U-M ice dancing team has earned a medal. Michigan graduates Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Games after earning silver in 2010 in Vancouver.
Tweet of the Day
So proud! No matter what. @AlexShibutani and I just had the best skate of our lives!!!
— Maia Shibutani (@MaiaShibutani) February 20, 2018
