Olympics
2026 Winter
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Ilia Malinin missed out on a medal in a stunning and dramatic men's figure skating final at the Winter Olympics today.
The 21-year-old American fell twice in his final free skate to score 156.33 and finish eighth as Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won gold.
Malinin won team gold here at the Milan Cortina Games but fell short today as Yuma Kagiyama won silver and Shun Sato bronze.
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Quad God stumbles: Ilia Malinin falters on Olympic stage in massive upset
We have a very special treat for you — an email from reader Pauline Lee, a professor at Saint Louis University and a past Olympian herself, as she competed in figure skating in the 1998 Olympics for Chinese Taipei. Pauline writes:
✍️ “I was able to watch Ilia Malinin compete at the U.S. Nationals in St. Louis this past January, and he was every bit the legendary trailblazing athlete and artist. In watching his response following his all too human performance today at the 2026 Olympics, I saw an impressive human, just 21 years old, who already could place this one single performance within the trajectory of a long-game, and within minutes after skating off the ice generously celebrated his competitors’ wins. I cannot imagine the pressure for him at the Olympics as one of the most celebrated competitors, with an intensity of news coverage focused on him. He is a world class inspiration as an athlete, an artist, an innovator, and most importantly, as a human being.
“The Olympics, or this one free skate in this one Olympics, is simply one of many times he has brought his whole self and shared his gifts with the world. This time he showed yet another part of himself. … He is better than the Quad God. He is a living, breathing human being — not so different than all of us with the not insubstantial caveat that he can spin 350 RPM for 4.5 revolutions while 30 inches above the ice and land elegantly in sequined costume with 200 pounds of pressure on a 3mm edge of a blade —who somehow has pushed what we previously thought of as normal physical human limitations.
“That he is human, like all of us, and still can achieve what was formerly unimaginable is what is extraordinary about Ilia Malinin.”
Reader Kathryn B. writes:
✍️ “I’m always nervous when an athlete is expected to win gold. It just feels like it’s too good to be true, like something bad is bound to happen. I feel for Ilia, I can’t imagine the pressure he was under, especially in today’s landscape with social media. I don’t know how he was able to give those interviews right after losing. All I did was watch on my TV and I felt sick about it. I look forward to seeing him in the Olympics in 2030!”
Two more reader emails we wanted to highlight about Ilia Malinin tonight. First up is Francine M., who writes:
💬 “I don’t think any of us can imagine the pressure that must be on these young people, particularly in Ilia’s case, when expectations were he would win the gold. It was heartbreaking to see how sad and disappointed he felt, but I hope he can rise above it and come back because he is an amazing talent who still has an incredible future in skating ahead of him.”
And this touching comment from Amy K.:
💬 “When he stood there with his head in his hands, I just wanted to hug him.”
Here is what our reader Diane S. had to say about Ilia Malinin handling such a devastating loss:
💬: “Keep on keeping on and know that in life, we just do the best we can and prepare for the the opportunity for success.Keep on keeping on and know that in life, we just do the best we can and prepare for the the opportunity for success.”
Reader Diane S. writes:
💬: “Huge kudos to Ilia Malinin for handling such a crushing night with class – from his moments with Mikhail Shaidorov to taking the time to speak with the media and try to explain what had happened in his head and on the ice.
“I've worked with many athletes over the years, and I've seen many (most much older and more experienced) dodge media interviews or refuse handshakes after a bad performance. To watch a 21-year-old handle himself with such grace makes me that much more of a fan.
“We can only hope that this experience strengthens his resolve even further as we start the countdown to 2030. It's great to see such a renewed interest in the US figure skating team, I foresee great things ahead.”
And now let's check in with reader Elizabeth P., who writes:
💬: “It was a bad night for Ilia Malinin, however, in my eyes, he is still the top skater in the world. We are fortunate that he has many years ahead, with the opportunity to come back again in four years to try again.
“Ilia skates with passion, intention, and beauty; tonight simply showed him as human, as we all are.”
Here's reader Kate D., who writes:
💬: “Ilia’s graciousness and composure were wonderful to see. I hope he knows his country is so proud of him!”
The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
MILAN — The skater no one saw coming jumped onto the podium and lifted his hands over his head, a mop of brown hair flying, a grin full of braces on full display and the crowd roaring. Mikhail Shaidorov, the biggest disruptor of the Winter Olympics, ran through the full gamut of emotions Friday night: shock, joy and disbelief.
Shaidorov completed one of the biggest upsets in figure skating — and perhaps Olympic, and perhaps sporting — history Friday night at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, when the 21-year-old from Kazakhstan won the gold medal in men’s figure skating.
Here is what Mikhail Shaidorov, the Olympic gold medalist, had to stay about this unexpected victory and upsetting Ilia Malinin.
💬: “It was my goal. It's why I'm training every day, and why I wake up and go to the training. That's it.
💬: “I think now I just did my work. I just wanted to enjoy my free skate.
💬: “It was my goal this season (to) do five quads.”
As Oskar laid out below, there are very few collapses in broader sports history comparable to what we witnessed tonight. But I can think of a few that stand out:
Those are some of the most stunning, unforgettable collapses in recent sports memory, the kind that have stuck with those involved for the next several years. Even then, Ilia Malinin’s collapse tonight may be even more staggering. Hopefully, Malinin will eventually have a chance to rewrite the narrative.
Perhaps it would help if we gave some comparisons to other sports to help you understand how big this upset was. Malinin was such a big favorite that some sportsbooks gave him a 99 percent chance to win.
And here's another email from one of our readers, Jennifer M., who writes:
✍️ “Watching Ilia Malinin's performance, I felt compassion and heartache for a young person on the world stage under the pressure of living up to impossible expectations. The disappointment etched on his face was heartbreaking, and yet, as he left the ice, he showed remarkable sportsmanship in congratulating Mikhail Shaidorov, the gold medalist. That is the true measure of an Olympian and a champion.”
After exiting the Milano Ice Skating Arena following the medal ceremony, Mikhail Shaidorov reemerged. He was draped in his Kazakhstan flag, taking in the whole scene, revelling in his accomplishment.
Shaidorov then gathered a group of Kazakhstan supporters together to take a group photo near the “kiss and cry” cam. For those fans, it is a lifetime memory to be photographed with an Olympic champion from their country.
In addition to dealing with the pressure of competing at a first Olympics, Ilia Malinin hinted that the ice might not have been the best condition tonight at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Here is what he said:
💬 “In the moment, it definitely felt like not only nerves, but maybe the ice was also not the best condition for what I would like to have. And that’s something I cannot complain about because we’re all put in that situation where we have to skate no matter what happens.
💬 “The nerves just went so overwhelming and especially going into that starting pose, I just felt like all the just traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head and there’s just like so many negative thoughts that just flooded into there and I just did not handle them.”
And here’s another take from one of our readers, Jenny V., who’s looking forward to when Ilia Malinin returns to the U.S.:
✍️ “Ilia has brought so much joy, fun, and excitement to a whole new generation of boys and girls in this country. Winning is amazing but how you pick yourself up when you fall (and fall) is what defines someone. He has managed to do both — a rare feat. Cheers to a role-model from Northern VA! Cant wait to welcome you home!”
The common line of thinking was that in a sport where skaters feed off crowd support, Ilia Malinin would simply ride that wave — and his unique talent — to a gold medal. But while his skills failed him tonight, the crowd at Milano Ice Skating Arena did not, and Malinin knows it:
💬 “Even with that skate, the crowd never stopped cheering. They were there supporting me. It's honestly why this is a very special sport, because (in) not a lot of sports you have that privilege of not only being an athlete, but you're also an artist.
“So there's also a lot of pressure there for what art you make on the ice, or how you execute everything. So I think all of this pressure, all of the media and just being the Olympic gold hopeful was just a lot, too much to handle.”
When asked to self-diagnose the mistakes he made on the ice tonight, Ilia Malinin demurred, but also said he was overwhelmed emotionally as he began his routine.
💬 “I'm trying to understand what happened specifically, but I know that it's done, so I can't change the outcome. I feel like a lot of people, if they could, they would definitely go back and change all the outcomes they had.
“My life has been through a lot of ups and downs, and just before getting into my starting pose, I just felt all of those experiences, memories, thoughts really just rush in, and it just felt so overwhelming. I didn't really know how to handle it in that moment.
“You have to take what happened, or what you've learned from this, and really just change or decide what you want to do for the future and how to approach things.”
While on the “kiss and cry” camera after his free skate, Ilia Malinin said on mic that “(If they had) sent me to Beijing, I wouldn’t have skated like that.”
Malinin clarified his comments to reporters in the mixed zone.
💬 “I think if I went to ’22, then I would have had more experience and know how to handle this Olympic environment, but also I don’t know what the next stages of my life would look like if I went there,” Malinin said. “So now all I can do is just regroup from this and really just take in the information that happened and just figure out how to manage in the future.”
Ilia Malinin really did not shy away from the fact that he believed he was undone tonight by the intense pressure that the Olympic stage brings. Here’s what he had to say:
💬 “Definitely not a pleasant feeling. Training up all these years, going up to it, it honestly went by so fast. I didn't have time to process what to do or anything. It all happens so fast.
“The pressure of the Olympics really gets you. People say that there's an Olympic curse, that the Olympic gold medal favourite is always going to skate bad at the Olympics. So that's what happens. The pressure is unreal. It's really not easy, but I'm still proud of being able to get to the finish.
“It's almost like I wasn't aware of where I was in the program. Usually I have more time and more feeling of how it is, but this time, it all went by so fast, and I really didn't have time to make those changes or make that process different.
“Coming into the free program, I was really confident, just really feeling good about it — and then it's like it's right there, and it just left your hands.”