The 15-year-old Russian figure skater headlined the program after she was cleared to compete following a failed pre-Games drug test.
A woman had never landed a quadruple jump at the Olympics until Feb. 7, 2022.
Ten days later, we could see as many as 10 quads in the women's free skate at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The 10 planned quads are shared among only the Russian Olympic Committee skaters: Aleksandra Trusova leads the way with five, Kamila Valieva will go for three (plus a triple axel) and Anna Shcherbakova two.
Latest News on Kamila Valieva
The ROC figure skater is in first place heading into the women's free skate Thursday morning.
Valieva, who is in first after the short program, successfully landed two in her team event free skate, falling on the third. Japan's Kaori Sakamoto stands in the way of a ROC sweep of the top three spots but will likely be passed by Trusova, who is fourth, if the reigning world bronze medalist pulls off any of her quads.
WATCH LIVE starting at 5 a.m. ET: USA | NBCOlympics.com | Peacock | NBC (8 p.m. ET)
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