Retired figure skating legend Johnny Weir referenced a “stare heard round the world” during his Olympic commentary a day ago. No, it doesn’t involve any participants in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. But 20 years ago, there was major drama. And it became the stuff of Olympics lore . Barbara Fusar Poli, the 2001 world champion who won bronze at the 2002 Olympics in Beijing with partner Maurizio Margaglio, teamed up again for the 2006 Winter Olympics, which also were in Italy. The skaters were a fan-favorite pair skating for their home country, in their home country, when it happened. The two had been leading the ice dance competition going into the next event, the original dance. There their podium hopes went awry. Margaglio lost his balance during a lift and both Fusar Poli and he fell to the ground. The music stopped. Fusar Poli stared at Margaglio across the ice, appearing to blame him for their error. He stared back at her, maybe not as intensely. It lasted almost a minute. Once they got into the area where skaters wait for judges’ scores, Fusar Poli couldn’t even look at him. She burst into tears. Fusar Poli and Margaglio had skated together for 12 years. After that, many wondered if they would ever skate together again. They did compete again the next day. Though they were noticeably avoidant in warm-ups, according to The New York Times, they came together at the end in a very public hug-and-kiss makeup. They announced their permanent retirement (they had taken an earlier break) from competitive skating about five months later, in July 2006. Here’s the Team USA figure skating roster for Milan Cortina Alysa Liu Amber Glenn Andrew Torgashev Anthony Ponomarenko Christina Carreira Daniel O’Shea Evan Bates Ilia Malinin Isabeau Levito (from Mount Laurel, New Jersey) Madison Chock Maxim Naumov Spencer Howe Ellie Kam Emilea Zingas Vadym Kolesnik Emily Chan When did figure skating start? Figure skating events started on Friday, Feb. 6, with three portions of the Team Event: The rhythm dance portion; The pair skating-short program, and the women’s single skating-short program. Here’s the remaining Olympic figure skating schedule Tuesday, Feb. 10: Men’s single skating-short program — 12:30 p.m. ET/ 9:30 a.m. PT Wednesday, Feb. 11: Ice Dancing-Free Dance — 1:30 p.m. ET/ 10:30 a.m. PT 🥇 Friday, Feb. 13: Men’s single skating-free skate — 1 p.m. ET/ 10 a.m. PT 🥇 Sunday, Feb. 15: Pair skating-short program — 1:45 p.m. ET/ 10:45 a.m. PT Monday, Feb. 16: Pair skating-free skate — 2 p.m. ET/ 11 a.m PT 🥇 Tuesday, Feb 17: Women’s single skating-short program — 12:45 p.m. ET/ 9:45 a.m. PT Thursday, Feb. 19: Women’s single skating-free skate — 1 p.m. ET/ 10 a.m. PT 🥇 Saturday, Feb. 21: Exhibition Gala: The exhibition gala (a non-medal event) begins at 2 p.m. ET/ 11 a.m. PT Where and how to watch figure skating Individual and team gymnastics events at the 2026 Olympics will air on NBC New York and USA Network. Streaming will be available on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC Olympics app and the NBC app. What Team USA members from the 2022 Olympics are returning for Milan Cortina 2026? Of the members of the gold medal-winning team from the 2022 Olympics (Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Karen Chen, Alexa Knierim, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Zachary Donohue, Madison Chock, Evan Bates), only Chock and Bates will be returning. Why is Nathan Chen not competing? While Chen has not officially retired from skating, he said he would not be competing in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games as he attends medical school. What country has won the most gold medals in figure skating? The U.S. has won more Olympic gold medals (17) in figure skating events than any other country, and the most medals overall with 54 in total. Russia ranks second in total gold medals, with 14. What athlete has won the most gold medals in figure skating? Sonja Henie (Norway), Irina Rodnina (Soviet Union) and Gillis Grafström (Sweden) each won three individual gold medals each. The record for most total medals is held by Tessa Virture and Scott Moir of Canada, who have five total medals (five gold and two silver). ...read more read less