Early starts at Olympics cause figure skaters concern

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) — One by one, some of the biggest names in figure skating tumbled to their backsides inside Gangneung Ice Arena, the opening day of their Pyeongchang Olympics program going nothing like planned.

Patrick Chan of Canada hit the deck first. Nathan Chen of the U.S. followed him. Russian skater Mikhail Kolyada was next, falling twice during his short program as part of the team competition.

They all had a readily available excuse: early-morning starts.

You see, figure skating has long been among the most popular Winter Olympic sports in the United States, driving the massive TV ratings for which broadcast partner NBC paid billions. So with a 14-hour time difference to…