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Each team is composed of two men, two women, one pair skating couple and one ice dance couple.

In 2019, after Knierim had switched to pair skating with future-husband Chris Knierim and they needed a coach on short notice, Sand stepped in and took them to an event in Japan where they won a medal.

“That’s the kind of pair skating I love, when it becomes, as I say, two as one. And Alexa and Brandon have it. I call it the Nicks legacy.”

“I didn’t even know what pair skating was,” Babilonia recalled, “and she simply said, ‘Hold his hand and skate around the rink.’

Pair skating isn’t a strength for Americans but the ice dance and women’s events on Friday hinted at good things to come for the skaters, if not for the Ducks.