The figure skating events in 1998 Winter Olympics were held at the White Ring in Nagano. There were no changes in the format or scoring systems from 1994. Professionals were again allowed to compete, although they had to declare that intention and compete in ISU-approved events to do so. Previously, the ISU had been accused of rejecting Western professionals, while allowing Eastern Bloc state-sponsored "amateurs" to compete. Most of the top competitors by 1998 were now openly professional. The competitions took place on the following days: Pairs: 8–10 February 1998 Men's singles: 12–14 February 1998 Ice dance: 13–16 February 1998 Ladies' singles: 18–20 February 1998 Exhibition gala: 21 February 1998 Medal summary Medalists Medal table Participating NOCs Thirty-five nations competed in the figure skating events at Nagano. Results Men The favourites and top two after the short program were Ilia Kulik and Elvis Stojko, who would skate first and last, respectively. Medal contenders Alexei Yagudin, Todd Eldredge and Philippe Candeloro went in between. Steven Cousins was the other skater in the final draw, but he was not considered to have a realistic chance of making the podium. Kulik skated a flawless program which included a quad toe loop to open the last session. Yagudin, who was one of several athletes suffering from the flu during these games, fell on his quad attempt and his triple Axel, which took him out of medal contention. Eldredge was skating cleanly until he popped what was to be his second triple Axel, and then he fell again when he tried to complete the jump again in the closing seconds. Candeloro, with the exception of a step out on his triple Axel, skated his program flawlessly to end up second in the free skating. Stojko, who skated last, originally intended to perform a quad toe loop/triple toe loop combination. However, a partial groin tear and the flu prevented him from attempting the combo, so he downgraded his quad to a triple. Despite his injury, he skated a clean program but finished the free skating third, placing second overall behind Kulik. The countries represented by the podium finishers were the same as in the men's competition at the Lillehammer 1994 games, with Stojko and Candeloro getting their second consecutive silver and bronze medals, respectively. In a noteworthy instance, Stojko had to limp to the podium on sneakers at the medal presentation. He also did not skate