2026 Olympics: Men's Free Skate

[Artemisa]

Yes but why he did it I don't know. Was showing off or making history more important?

I don't think so... I think something happen.. when Raf was called and quickly approved to be his coach... is because something was happening.... well I didn't understand why he hasn't with him from the beggining ( since his mother wasn't comming) .. the other option is that him knowing the result of yuma ... mentally was debating whether he should play it safe or stick to his plan... some times just the thought can kill the result

 

[lileychristie]

"I thank my orthodontist for my Gold-medal winning smile!" So cute.

He can't wait to sink his new teeth on the gold medal

 

[SNAKSuyun]

Really speaks to the pressure of the Olympics and the difficulty of the quads that so many men succumbed to the pressure. RIP to Adam's axis (which was supposedly going "well" all week until tonight). RIP to Yuma's skating skills. RIP to Ilia's quads. Objectively speaking this competition was pretty cursed and didn't go the way most (including the audience) wanted. We didn't get the 4A. We didn't get a dominating tech victory. We didn't get many medaling programs that we'd want to rewatch.

But then, the silver linings. Living in Canada I'm really proud of Stephen for putting out two quality programs after all his struggles these past years. Boyang didn't have a meltdown. Kevin was struggling the whole way through but fought the whole way through. Adam's StSq was mesmerizing even after the falls. Daniel managed to survive his skate in front of a home audience despite food poisoning. Shun medaled in both the individual and the team event. And Mikhail should be extremely proud of himself, also knowing that Denis would have been so proud of him as well.

 

[museksk8r]

Ilia has a team gold medal actually.

I'm not his biggest fan but everyone around him has hyped him up massively. Any athlete who has won worlds 3 times is bound to have a lot of self belief. And he does have a jump that nobody else can land, unfortunately he wasn't able to show it tonight.

He has won Worlds twice, but if he wins in March, he will be a 3-time champion. He certainly has a fire lit under him now to do just that.

 

[Jennyf]

This result may actually make Malinin more relatable to people and endear him more to the public. Everyone loves a great comeback story! It’s never the athletes who win all the time that inspire people the most. This will humble and humanize him and make him more marketable.

I think it also ensures he will be sticking around longer. I know he will probably go home and immediately work on his quint (!) but I really hope he takes the time to focus on other parts of his skating. The loss will definitely be a motivator for him.

People think he is arrogant, but he just human. The pressure got to him like any other human.

Still blown away that Torgs scored higher than him in the FS.

 

[reneerose]

This result may actually make Malinin more relatable to people and endear him more to the public. Everyone loves a great comeback story! It’s never the athletes who win all the time that inspire people the most. This will humble and humanize him and make him more marketable.

Will 4 more years go by in a flash? I really want to see a rematch at Worlds.

 

[lelaya]

The men waited a long time between the SP and FS. I can’t think of another competition where skaters had to wait 3 days between both programs. This scheduling proved to be a nightmare for many of the men.

It's the same three days for all of them though. Not a real handicap.

 

[freedomlover]

I disagree. He skated a really good, Olympic-worthy program. I even thought his second mark could be a little higher.

I thought his PCS should be higher too- not 97 ofc but if Ilia got 89 in the team free he could have gotten 87 or something

 

[Karoltyna]

Gonna go join Hanyu fan screaming on twitter now "YUZURU HANYU IS GOAT YUZURU HANYU IS GOAT"

duh, cause hi is

 

[moonvine]

Only the US and NBC do that though

Yes, but that’s the main media he’s dealing with.

 

[Arigato]

All I have to say is, I think this sport is great.

 

[4everchan]

Funny guy.

I may be even funnier after watching and request by petition a medal for Gogo

 

[Janice4th]

Oh Ilia. The anguish. I never saw him as cocky or arrogant, he is always so effusive about other skaters, he just knew he was capable of something special. Just not today. I hope we see him again in four years. And I hope he continues to improve his artistry and not focus solely on jumps, because when the jumps fail you, there's not much left.

I personally cannot feel pain over who wins or loses the Olympics because Michelle Kwan's first loss gutted me so badly it made me immune.

I agree.

 

[lariko]

Too bad. I guess then that Cha should have won bronze? Will watch tonight

Probably. It also depends on how much Gogolev and Gumennik were underscored. Gumennik lost enough on TES for it to make difference between silver and 6th. Gogolev didn't loose basically anything, but his PCSs were low -- gorgeous skate though. But, well, obviously they propped Kagiyama.

 

[frompolandwithlove]

What did I just watch??????
That was THE WEIRDEST plot twist.
I am so confused.
Friday the 13th. Must be it. I don't believe in such things but I don't have any other explanation.

 

[shan22044]

I know that's nothing like this AT ALL but I do wonder. When I was in high school I took the ACT three times (was actually scheduled for a 4th but decided to stop the madness).

There was a certain score I was looking for. The third time, I think my second section was the reading comprehension. And I completely KILLED it, and I KNEW it! When you're taking a 4 hour exam you have to be completely stoic and deliberate.

But I thought to myself, OMG I'm finally gonna do it!

So yeah. I ended up getting a perfect score (36) on that section just like I knew. But the math section which was right afterward was my lowest of the three times I took the test because my moment of joy broke the concentration needed to then do my best on my most difficult subject.

In the end, I got the same total exam score, for a third time which was short of my pretty extreme goal.

I wonder if Ilia knew, especially with all of the mistakes made by the others evidenced by their scores, that he HAD this. Like easy peasy. And despite himself, in his mind maybe allowed himself to celebrate early ? It seems like with these sports all it takes is a tiny lapse in mindfulness to screw everything up.

 

[Mathman]

I kind of really don't like the placements here not that I dislike anyone so much but it just seems to get gold because everyone sated so bad and you after having great consistency issue did your best skate at the Olympics.

Every sports contest is like that. Perform better than the other guys and you win.

 

[freedomlover]

Cha was robbed because Kagiyama was overscored, not Shun. Shun by all the rules out there should have won silver. Kagiyama SP and FS were overscored like crazy. Kagiyama shouldn't have been on the podium, let alone with silver. Should have been Shaidorov, Sato, Cha.

Can we go back to earlier in the Season where Shun should have won NHK over Yuma with a fall as well? Yuma is lucky to be scored in the PCS the way he does because he is a great performer with falls and stepouts.

But maaaaan, Shun got dinged all season for even the smallest mistakes.

 

[thatdarncat]

I am in shock , what the hell happened to Ilia, I really feel for him . Watching that performance he didn't have his usual air of confidence.

Amazing result for Misha and his coach Alexei. Nice to see a happy podium, relief from Yuma and joy from Shun.

So great performances tonight from a number of skaters, proud of Petr today he was awesome.

I always say anything can happen at the Olympics, its thrown up a number of odd results over the years.

 

[LeReveur]

Delayed comment: I feel Yuma's performance was lacking, not just the jumps. I understand that his short program was excellent, but that long program contributing to a silver medal? No, not in my book.