A day before the Olympic figure skating competition begins, it has already become clear Germany will not improve on its finishes from the Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 team events.
Germany’s sole pairs figure skating team at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Minerva Hase and Nolan Seegert, must withdraw from the team event after Seegert tested positive for COVID for a second day.
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The pairs team, which finished eighth at last month’s European Championships, could still compete in the pairs competition – the final figure skating event of the Games, Feb. 18-19 – if Seegert receives two consecutive negative tests in time.
SEE MORE: How to watch Figure Skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics on NBC and Peacock
The remaining German figure skaters – Paul Fentz, Nicole Schott, Katharina Muller/Tim Dieck (ice dance) – still intend to compete in the team event, held Feb. 4, 6 and 7, the team’s press attaché confirmed to reporters in the mixed zone following Thursday's training.
"This way, the other team members will test the ice in a competition and will get some experience before their individual events,” the German Olympic Sports Confederation told Reuters via email.
The team event made its Olympic debut at the 2014 Sochi Games, and Germany is one of eight nations to have qualified all three times it’s been held. Germany first placed eighth, then seventh at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, and was eliminated after the short programs both times. It was the seventh-ranked country entering these Olympics.
The team event will air live starting at 8:55 p.m. ET Thursday on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and NBC. The event starts with the men’s short program, followed by the rhythm dance at 10:35 p.m. ET and pairs short program at 12:15 a.m.