2026 Olympics: Men's Free Skate

[YuBluByMe]

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?)

Andrew’s safe to watch and maybe the first two skaters in the first group.

 

[moonvine]

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.

Ilia has an OGM.

 

[DinkaDinozoo]

Just speechless on results... It seamed to me that Ilia was not feeling well starting from the beginning of Olympics, he was hardly moving through the ice, heavily breathing. Maybe it was the reason of what happened. Feel really sorry for him, I think he is really nice guy wearing some kind of cool guy mask. ))

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I seriously doubt skating 2x and then having a couple of days off caused this.

Whether skating both portions of the team event was a good idea was highly debated here, and I think a lot of people saw the possibility of him underperforming (obviously not to this extent).

 

[DancingCactus]

Compared to the last Olympics this whole free skate event was just terrible all around.
I watched the final three literally rolling around on the floor howling with disbelief.
I kinda had a feeling Adam would break, but never expected Yuma and Ilia to also totally fall apart.

My favourite skate of the night was Torgashev and one really has to wonder what would have been possible for Jun had the judges not held him down in the SP.
Holy f*

 

[cocteautwin]

I needed this

 

[Near]

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

The French-Canadian commentator had this quote after Patrick Chan didn't overtake Hanyu's score: he had gold on a silver platter and he decided to take the platter.

But people don't hold that against Hanyu because an Olympic gold is an Olympic gold, even if you earn it with an underwhelming performance (and to be clear, even though I think Hanyu's free skate in 2018 was underwhelming I also think he clearly deserved to win gold).

 

[reader3]

I am sure he will make the best decision for him, whatever that is.

He might need Worlds to validate himself. IM won't be getting any younger by the next OG's. Can his ankle hold out with the type of jumping that he does? If IM doesn't have a sports psychologist, he better get one. And he may need to chat with Nathan.

 

[Artemisa]

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.

Yes .. but a fair PCS in the SP and LP .. would make that difference go away

 

[yfan1]

The French-Canadian commentator had this quote after Patrick Chan didn't overtake Hanyu's score: he had gold on a silver platter and he decided to take the platter.

Yeah I remember. Wasn't it Rochette?

 

[tempusfugit]

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 feel you, Jennyf. I was on a cruise ship, and when I read the results I nearly expired on the spot. This is so depressing.

 

[Zora]

Huge SP advantage mainly

But Shun's mistakes were comparatively small, I thought he easily made up for the SP difference in the free skate. I felt like Yuma stumbled on every move. Maybe I need to see his free skate again.

 

[labgoat]

Don't forget that Kurt Browning never won an Olympic medal despite two tries and four World Championships.

Sad but true. Kurt never conquered the Olympic monster but still went on to become one of the worlds most popular skaters

 

[ladyjane]

I needed this

Shun's coach is always so enthusiastic. wonderful!

 

[DinkaDinozoo]

I always prefer great skaters like Yagudin, Hanyu, Chen or at least Plushenko becoming Olympic champions... but this time (all the respect to Michail's technical score) was not the case...

 

[LeReveur]

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'm not sure how you were watching (or if you were), but on NBC, we could pick up him comment that this wouldn't have happened if he had gone to Beijing. Something to that effect.

 

[el henry]

Andrew’s safe to watch and maybe the first two skaters in the first group.

Definitely Donovan, one pop will never ruin a Donovan skate. The Taiwanese kid brought it too.

 

[skatesofgold]

I was able to rewatch ice dance up until the French were awarded their scores, but I don't think I'm going to rewatch this one. I just need a drink. At least I don't care who wins pairs or women.

 

[16Olympics]

Speechless.

I know Nathan Chen knows how this feels at his first Olympics. Ilia will be okay.

It was a mess except for the winner. Congrats to Misha, Yuma and Shun.

 

[Axel Rose]

I don’t feel great after watching. I enjoy a good underdog story, but the last three men imploded and look devastated when coming off the ice. It is not a good feeling at all to watch a person’s dream get crushed three times in a row.