2026 Olympics: Men's Free Skate

[drivingmissdaisy]

I sure hope Ilia isn't going to blame this on the USFSA not sending him to 2022 Olympics. I mean, maybe he should have gone. I'm not sure how I feel about the Olympics as a training ground for the next Olympics an athlete may qualify for.

I wouldn't crucify him based on a comment made after the worst moment of his life.

 

[yuumagical]

The only thought I have in my head after watching this competition is:

??????????????

 

[skatedreamer]

Similar to Nathan's first Olympics. Poor Ilya, but he will come back from this performance.

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.

Re: Ilia's jumps, I said the same thing to a friend earlier today. Sometimes it kind of sucks to be right.

Michelle's 1998 loss hurts me to this day. She was so glorious at the US Nats that year and I've always felt that she left it all on the ice in Philadelphia. Also, as with Ilia, the media hype around her was off-the-charts insane.

The worst part is that there's probably no way to stop the pressure. The media needs their stories and TV needs to sell advertising and on...and on...and on.

 

[Mista Ekko]

The US Federation should've sent Malinin 4 years ago to get Olympic experience
but instead they made the same mistake with him they did with Nathan Chan -
harness their star power to increase viewership and leave them to drown
in their first encounter with Olympic pressure.

They have a lot of soul searching to do about their decision making process.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Kurt Browning said he'd sit Ilia down and have a long chat with him, knowing how it felt to be world champion four times and not win a medal of any colour at the Olympics.

 

[Demandred]

Still can't believe what just happened
Malinin was so dominant for years. One or two major errors due to nerves I could see, but this absolutely not. 2 pops in one skate - he barely had any pops for years. And 2 falls. Just unreal. I hope he can come back strong from this.

I am really happy for Shun but sad for Cha. Yuma is my favorite but but I would have been fine with these two overtaking him for the medals, I am not sure he deserved the silver or even bronze with so many errors in the free.

 

[moonvine]

How do they even stop that though. American media and TV always wants the ratings and the drama. Might be more in the athletes choice to start refusing to even talk to the media anymore, especially the States. But not many athletes can even brand themselves as Quad Gods.

I mean they stop it by not doing it. As far as I’m concerned they lost Nathan AND now Ilia golds and I’m not happy.

 

[TallyT]

Worst since Sochi, omfg

Worse than Sochi.

I just came in and am going to be cherrypicking which skaters I watch (so far Gogo, Jun, Sato and Mikhail, anyone else safe?)

I may not be fond of Ilia but I do feel sorry for him, as I did Nathan in 2018 - the worst possible time to implode so badly. But I am totally chuffed for Shaidorov (shut up, I like his happy chaos) and Shun (karma after the team robbery!)

 

[Karoltyna]

This was so nice to see Yuma explaining to Shun that he has a medal and then a happy podium without glaring and fake smiles.

On the other hand I hope Ilia will be ok and won't be forced to do interviews just tomorrow morning.
While I'm all in for chaos and destruction, this may have been too crazy even for me.

 

[Paulipau]

It does feel like Ilya heard Yumas score and decided to go easy on himself, and then that got messed up.

 

[yfan1]

TBH with how much time Ilia spends on social media, it's very possible he saw some of the comments about himself, and that added to the pressure as well.

 

[skatesofgold]

Andrea Joyce thoughtlessly sticking the needle into Ilia during an interview. Give the guy a break please.

She's an awful interviewer. I've never liked her.

 

[Andrea82]

Marks breakdown

Skating Scores: Latest Figure Skating Results, Scores, Rankings & Statistics

The best resource for Figure Skating scores and stats on the web.

skatingscores.com

Obviously all over the place...just like the skating

PCS

Georgia: tie between Cha, Sato and Aymoz
Switzerland: Sato
Italy: Kagiyama
Sweden: Cha
China: tie between Shaidarov, Grassl and Gogolev
USA: Cha
Canada: Cha
Kazakhstan: Cha
Azerbaijan: Cha

 

[Warwick360]

After the dance and this, I think I might have to catch pairs and ladies after the Olympics end.

My mind can't take this, and neither can it handle the contemptible BBC coverage.

 

[moonvine]

OMG. I'm literally in shock. (I haven't posted here in pretty much this whole quad although have been following but you know..) But HOLY f**k. Maybe the US shouldn't have had Ilia skate both the SP and FS in the team but also it was good practice for him to get used to Olympic ice and pressure? But maybe not both of them? (Did they trade individual golds for the team gold - both through politics and pressure?)
This is crazier than Nathan Chen. This is crazier than Kamila Valieva. I just can't. Devastated for him. And devastated for my sweet Jun who should have a medal right now. I can't. I don't even know what to say.
I LITERALLY GASPED IN SPANISH.

I mean we have team OGM and we would not have had that without him. I seriously doubt skating 2x and then having a couple of days off caused this.

 

[skatesofgold]

There is that time with Nathan Chen though...
History repeating itself.

This is worse.

 

[Jammers]

I had a terrible feeling at the GPF that Ilia had his Olympic skate in the FS with those 7 quads. But still never thought he'd collapse like this with Gold on the line. All he had to do was fight like in the FS in the TE and he would still have won by nearly 20 points.

 

[kimganos]

How do they even stop that though. American media and TV always wants the ratings and the drama. Might be more in the athletes choice to start refusing to even talk to the media anymore, especially the States. But not many athletes can even brand themselves as Quad Gods.

I think you can say Misha is a Quad God now, too.......His Quads are solid.....

 

[freedomlover]

It's a sport and stuff happens.

I'm sure Ilia will learn from all this. But if people were to bring Hanyu up - they'd rightly say that the mentality of going 2x OGM is rather strong.

Not that I felt Hanyu's first OGM was anything to write home about either though.

It was not considering the best skates of his career but he held it together in a competition where everyone else did not. and that matters too

 

[skatesofgold]

Something needs to change with the way a top athlete is built up so much. All the media hype, the quad god stuff. The camera right in your face. all the commercials. It's all way too much. There are other athletes at the Olympics that should be heard from and given time. They put way too much on Ilia.

But that's what happens when you win as an American athlete. It's not going to change. You either deal with the pressure or you don't. Like I'm devastated, but the hype was deserved.