2026 Olympics: Men's Free Skate

[DancingCactus]

What it has to do is people tend to be very judgemental. When you start speaking with them at deeper level it often turns out they know very little about the subject they are talking about or have a tunnel vision. You are being reminded not to be judgemental. Let's think how many times in the past 50 years or so US should have been banned and wasn't, and how many times Germany should have been banned in the early 20th century and instead was awarded OGs. We are not supposed to be political here, let's not be. Both ways.

Sorry but that seems to me like you're being judgmental about me being German. I'm deeply uncomfortable with any kind of nationalism.

But it is a fact that Gumennik can be greatful he was allowed to compete given the political situation. He doesn't have any recent international history and reputation. Domestic scores are usually higher than international ones. I think taking all this into consideration, there is no reason to complain, his result wasn't bad.

 

[rain]

I totally agree about his need to focus more on the quality of his basic skating; he is very far behind Kagiyama, Siao Him Fa, and several others in that regard. I do wish he would also implement the artistry that I have seen him execute in gala programs into his competitive programs. He’s very capable of aesthetically pleasing extension and thoughtful musical interpretation. Sadly, the IJS doesn’t reward those creative elements of a program as they do the technical jumps. I am all for the scale to be more balanced.

I also think Ilia is very capable of more artistically if he applies himself and has some good guidance (Artunian is not the man for this). One of the things I've always liked about him, in spite of the hype machine (which I understand, you've got to promote yourself to make any money) was that Ilia genuinely seems to love skating. He loves the sport. All of it, from the costumes to the jumps.

That was one of my beefs with Nathan Chen. He always seemed vaguely embarrassed to be a figure skater, like he wished his parents had gotten him into a cooler sport. I found this sort of teenage attitude to be off-putting, because hell, I love the sport, be proud to be so great at something so amazing — that's how you'll actually be cool.

 

[flakyy]

And what I do not get is that, after the SP went not stellar but very well, especially in terms of the standings, his team not made sure that he went again for a 5 quad layout, Axel and loop out. There were enough good reasons to do so - blade problems, 4 programs to do, Olympic pressure. What he does with a 5 quad program is spectacular enough, plus the backflip and the other stuff he is doing. Of course he stands out and is spectacular to watch because of unique that unique 4A, but under that circumstances it was essentially asking for a disaster (although improbable). There is not always a time to be special (and 2 gold is already special) - and that does take nothing away from being an outstanding athlete. Pogacar was clearly unhappy and struggling in the third week of 2025 TdF as he did not attack and did not go for stage victories he wanted. Turned out he was sick and injured, played it safe, did not expose himself and his closest rivals were not able to get rid of him. He set a comfortable pace that was enough to reign them in. Of course he learnt some lessons from 22 and 23. May Malinin have a similar moment - from "I'm gone I'm dead" to someone who often wins with long distance attacks nobody thought would be possible in modern cycling.

 

[Isk]

I was at Montreal's worlds. His was at the peak of his skating in terms of technical content.
The crowd was shook when he landed the 4axel. However, the program only worked because he landed all these big jumps replacing choreography. In the last 30 seconds or so, he got alive and performed. He is not my kind of skater nor performer but he was genuine. But that's the problem... it was interesting for the quads and outside that, just for the last bit of the program. I appreciated him winning that day. He deserved it. However, I enjoyed Adam and Yuma much more . Yesterday showed that without the firepower, his programs just cannot work. So he has two options : he lands his jump content, whether it means less quads or different layout it's up to him and his team.. but he needs to be stellar technically. His other option is to take a short break from chasing new combos and new records and go deeply into edge work, choreography, flow, turns, etc. I would even suggest he explores self-choreographing (freestyling) on warhorse music (with story telling). I'm not saying that he needs to skate to such programs but the exploration of what his body and blades can do to music that is actually lyrical and charged with narrative content may help him discover another path of expression.

Just my thoughts of course.

I think that's weakness of their strategy. I wonder if it's the lack of experience of his coaching team that he was not in optimal form physically and mentally or it's just his growth spurts as somebody mentioned that the team was not prepared for. I think they didn't bank on using these OGs as an experience builder for 2030, at least it was not in their publicity campaign. Problem is some of those basic skating skills need to be built from childhood. It's not just skating, it's lines as well, he now needs to acquire all these things, and it's not so easy.
At least he got a team gold medal. Considering how much strategizing and risk the team event requires and how much it can affect the individual result, I think perhaps perception will shift to value it more (if the ridiculous scoring is fixed). I still think the best solution would be to do the team event after the individual event. Team event is fun. WTT, Japan open are in this format, they happen off main season and have a lot of show element. Or there should at least be a possibility to name alternates only for the team event in case the main competitors are ill, and then replace the alternates by the main athletes for individuals if they recover. This way L/E could have skated in the team event. Instead, P/M skated both programs to hold place for SD/D, which may or may not affect their individual chances, and if SD/D did not recover, they would be the best Canadian team in the individual event. This is suboptimal.

 

[4everchan]

I think that's weakness of their strategy. I wonder if it's the lack of experience of his coaching team that he was not in optimal form physically and mentally or it's just his growth spurts as somebody mentioned that the team was not prepared for. I think they didn't bank on using these OGs as an experience builder for 2030, at least it was not in their publicity campaign. Problem is some of those basic skating skills need to be built from childhood. It's not just skating, it's lines as well, he now needs to acquire all these things, and it's not so easy.
At least he got a team gold medal. Considering how much strategizing and risk the team event requires and how much it can affect the individual result, I think perhaps perception will shift to value it more (if the ridiculous scoring is fixed). I still think the best solution would be to do the team event after the individual event. Team event is fun. WTT, Japan open are in this format, they happen off main season and have a lot of show element. Or there should at least be a possibility to name alternates only for the team event in case the main competitors are ill, and then replace the alternates by the main athletes for individuals if they recover. This way L/E could have skated in the team event. Instead, P/M skated both programs to hold place for SD/D, which may or may not affect their individual chances, and if SD/D did not recover, they would be the best Canadian team in the individual event. This is suboptimal.

I am fine with the team event first or last. I used to believe it would be best last.. .but I like that there is mystery around who gets to perform in the team event since it's first.

The IOC will not allow subs though. It sucks but the team event is only there because it doesn't require extra athletes (other than the 5 more skaters to fill out some teams). I don't see this changing.

The scoring is really what pissed me off the most.

The SP scoring is fine if the LP scoring becomes 10-8-6-4-2

 

[Isk]

Sorry but that seems to me like you're being judgmental about me being German. I'm deeply uncomfortable with any kind of nationalism.

But it is a fact that Gumennik can be greatful he was allowed to compete given the political situation. He doesn't have any recent international history and reputation. Domestic scores are usually higher than international ones. I think taking all this into consideration, there is no reason to complain, his result wasn't bad.

I am not being judgemental about your nationality. I am saying you are being judgemental. Neither am I comfortable about people saying: he is Russian (or whatever), he should be grateful for being allowed to compete at all, like he is some 2nd rate person. 1936, and then 1940. Do you really think Germany should have been allowed to host not one but two Olympics in 1936 and then chosen to host it again in 1940? Considering what was going on there. This is what the person who responded to you meant. That's all I am saying.

 

[DancingCactus]

I am not being judgemental about your nationality. I am saying you are being judgemental. Neither am I comfortable about people saying: he is Russian (or whatever), he should be grateful for being allowed to compete. And then it turns out they don't know basic history. 1936, and then 1940. Do you really think Germany should have been allowed to host not one but two Olympics in 1936 and then chosen to host it again in 1940? Considering what was going on there. That's all I am saying.

Lol, of course I think Germany should have been banned from the Olympics in Nazi times. I also think the US should be banned from holding the Football World Cup right this minute btw. Accusing a German of not knowing basic history is wild and tells me you probably don't know anything about the German education system.

I expcet this comment to be removed, but this is just wild.

 

[el henry]

My grey Maine Coon tomcat passed away yesterday at noon. He was old (15, would be 16 by this summer) but it doesn't lessen the pain.

Maine Coon cats are great, we’ve had three purebreds and several rescues over the years. I am so sorry.

 

[yelyoh]

I also think Ilia is very capable of more artistically if he applies himself and has some good guidance (Artunian is not the man for this). One of the things I've always liked about him, in spite of the hype machine (which I understand, you've got to promote yourself to make any money) was that Ilia genuinely seems to love skating. He loves the sport. All of it, from the costumes to the jumps.

That was one of my beefs with Nathan Chen. He always seemed vaguely embarrassed to be a figure skater, like he wished his parents had gotten him into a cooler sport. I found this sort of teenage attitude to be off-putting, because hell, I love the sport, be proud to be so great at something so amazing — that's how you'll actually be cool.

You might be right but I always found Nathan to be shy. I think he really liked performing once he got into it. And he did study ballet and did Nutcracker as a kid. I don't think his parents steered him in the wrong direction from his standpoint. He was very fond of his mother and celebrated his gold medal with her. Nathan is just shy.

 

[yelyoh]

My grey Maine Coon tomcat passed away yesterday at noon. He was old (15, would be 16 by this summer) but it doesn't lessen the pain.

I have an Abysinian and a tabby (shelter cats). Love them both. I lost my three cats prior to getting them. I was devasated and inconsolable. It's agonizing.

 

[Diana Delafield]

My grey Maine Coon tomcat passed away yesterday at noon. He was old (15, would be 16 by this summer) but it doesn't lessen the pain.

My tabby Maine Coon boy is 15 and has been taking insulin shots for diabetes for five years. I know this is better than the average prognosis, but that he won't stay active and happy forever. Every added month with him is a blessing.

He's sleeping pressed up against me while I type, and after reading your sad post I gave him a kiss that made him go "Mrrp?". I'm so sorry for your loss. I've lived with cats my whole life and been through that loss many times. It hurts just as much with each one.

 

[yelyoh]

I was at Montreal's worlds. He was at the peak of his skating in terms of technical content.
The crowd was shook when he landed the 4axel. However, the program only worked because he landed all these big jumps replacing choreography. In the last 30 seconds or so, he got alive and performed. He is not my kind of skater nor performer but he was genuine. But that's the problem... it was interesting for the quads and outside that, just for the last bit of the program. I appreciated him winning that day. He deserved it. However, I enjoyed Adam and Yuma much more . Yesterday showed that without the firepower, his programs just cannot work. So he has two options : he lands his jump content, whether it means less quads or different layout it's up to him and his team.. but he needs to be stellar technically. His other option is to take a short break from chasing new combos and new records and go deeply into edge work, choreography, flow, turns, etc. I would even suggest he explores self-choreographing (freestyling) on warhorse music (with story telling). I'm not saying that he needs to skate to such programs but the exploration of what his body and blades can do to music that is actually lyrical and charged with narrative content may help him discover another path of expression.

Just my thoughts of course.

With Adam and Jun and Jason you have skaters who have programs with jumps inserted and with Ilya you have jumps with program inserted. BUT yes he can perform very well. He loves skating. He has said so and I believe him. This will sting for a long long time. He realized he needed to work on the performing side and made headway. He's open. I think it would help if he worked with an ice dancer. I nominate JeanLuc. On a general note, I think he should cut down on a quad and ditch the 4A.

 

[SmileHappy34]

If you want my full thoughts on Malinin’s skate, go to page 101 or 102.

Now let’s take the audience perspective. Why do we tune in to see him? It’s the technical fire power, especially the quad axel. The quad axel really put him on the map and helped him stand out. If you’re honest with yourself (as the audience), you tune into his skates to see quad axels and seven-quad programs. Without that, I saw his programs as pretty one-note.

No as audience i tune in 1. I like figure skating. 2 i am an american. 3. I hope he win. 4. Quads had nothing to do with it.5. He himself gave quadgod title not me. The hype brought on by former OGM like Scott Hamilton, Tara lipinski. And a whole slows of others. He didn't live up to their hype. They didn't want him to. Nbc and sponsor like Honda, and others

 

[4everchan]

With Adam and Jun and Jason you have skaters who have programs with jumps inserted and with Ilya you have jumps with program inserted. BUT yes he can perform very well. He loves skating. He has said so and I believe him. This will sting for a long long time. He realized he needed to work on the performing side and made headway. He's open. I think it would help if he worked with an ice dancer. I nominate JeanLuc.

you know... I never liked Gogolev because he was just jumping... working with Benoit this year and wow.. the amount of choreography. He is still not a fabulous skater by all means but he is truly working on it and it showed tremendously. He will never be a Patrick but I was smiling through his SP and moved by his Rachmaninoff which is not easy to do with me since I have played the concerto and I am picky.

So my point is that when a skater wants to improve that side of their skating, they can.
Adam has done great work on that too since his junior years.
Yuma has improved as well.
Ilia certainly is a better performer than before but the programs are still relatively empty until the end, which features more gimmicks than really interesting choreography.

Of course, just my take on things but yeah.

I was thinking about old programs... Kurt's Casablanca, even Stojko's Dragon, Candeloro d'Artagnan, Why aren't skaters doing programs with story telling anymore ? At least, it was entertaining

 

[Karoltyna]

I was at Montreal's worlds. He was at the peak of his skating in terms of technical content.
The crowd was shook when he landed the 4axel. However, the program only worked because he landed all these big jumps replacing choreography. In the last 30 seconds or so, he got alive and performed. He is not my kind of skater nor performer but he was genuine. But that's the problem... it was interesting for the quads and outside that, just for the last bit of the program. I appreciated him winning that day. He deserved it. However, I enjoyed Adam and Yuma much more . Yesterday showed that without the firepower, his programs just cannot work. So he has two options : he lands his jump content, whether it means less quads or different layout it's up to him and his team.. but he needs to be stellar technically. His other option is to take a short break from chasing new combos and new records and go deeply into edge work, choreography, flow, turns, etc. I would even suggest he explores self-choreographing (freestyling) on warhorse music (with story telling). I'm not saying that he needs to skate to such programs but the exploration of what his body and blades can do to music that is actually lyrical and charged with narrative content may help him discover another path of expression.

Just my thoughts of course.

Yup. If Ilia fails to land the jumps, there is nothing left, just the impression that nothing worked and the program is gone and this is what I will remember from yesterday. On the other hand when Adam falls, there is still lots of skating left because fall do influence the performance but he doesn't stop performing. So what I will remember from Adam's program from yesterday will not be falls but how his skating remained beautiful and moving and that he gave it all to the stsq. The same goes for Yuma, his program was still a beauty and he still performed.

PS I'd say this is very right moment for change of BVs in favor of non jumping elements. ISU played this game where jumps were everything for a long time and they rather lost than won, maybe it's time to focus on actual skating.

 

[SmileHappy34]

I know why u want ilia to stay in.
Why should ilia stay in . He doesn't have 4cc .Why stay in

 

[yelyoh]

you know... I never liked Gogolev because he was just jumping... working with Benoit this year and wow.. the amount of choreography. He is still not a fabulous skater by all means but he is truly working on it and it showed tremendously. He will never be a Patrick but I was smiling through his SP and moved by his Rachmaninoff which is not easy to do with me since I have played the concerto and I am picky.

So my point is that when a skater wants to improve that side of their skating, they can.
Adam has done great work on that too since his junior years.
Yuma has improved as well.
Ilia certainly is a better performer than before but the programs are still relatively empty until the end, which features more gimmicks than really interesting choreography.

Of course, just my take on things but yeah.

I was thinking about old programs... Kurt's Casablanca, even Stojko's Dragon, Candeloro d'Artagnan, Why aren't skaters doing programs with story telling anymore ? At least, it was entertaining

I believe these days more the realm of ice dancing which is maybe why I love it.

 

[lariko]

Interesting. In 1994 a surprise win by Alexei Urmanov and 32 years later a surprise win by his student. Daily mail seems to think Urmanov is from Kazakhstan. Those reporters. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/w...11/ilia-malinin-winter-olympics-collapse.html.
Very little info is available about Mikhail as a person. It almost seems nobody ever cared to be curious enough about him. Some media say that Shaidorov's father is 3 times Kazakhstan champion, but I found no confirmation of it, and he's never been to worlds. They also say Mikhail is ethnically Russian (parents, citizenship?) but was born and started skating in Alma-Aty, which is his hometown. They write he gets angry when people call him Russian, it's an insult to him. I think nobody does, but if he's so sensitive nobody forces him to train in Sochi, right? Anyway, having won, he can now go anywhere, get an education, get a career, etc. Congrats to him.
I can't think what it feels like to realize you have to keep jumping at this rate for another 4 years and also continue to enlist Ari's help for outrageous PCS inflation. I don't think it's possible, but we'll see. It's one thing to teach jumping, it's another thing to lead an athlete to the most important skate of his life in an optimal form and with an optimal mindset.
Should they try to have the team event after the individuals next time?

This wiki article lists Stanislav Shaidorov as champion of Kazakhstan in 1998-2000, then silver in 2001.

He might be ethnic Russian or partially Russian, but not in the sense that he moved to Kazakhstan from Russia 4 years ago, but he is a Kazakhstani in second or third generation. Siberia wasn't the only place for exile in the 30s, and in the 50-60s, North Kazakhstan was one of the centers of Soviet agricultural enterprise. That might be one reason he gets angry, because his family might have history there, and he self-identifies as a citizen and a national of his native country.

Kazakh Figure Skating Championships - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[yelyoh]

I know why u want ilia to stay in.
Why should ilia stay in . He doesn't have 4cc .Why stay in

Is this an intentional non sequitur? : )

 

[Karoltyna]

I am not sure we understand each other. What I meant to say was that since he was invited, he deserves to be treated like everyone else and get a fair score. That's what I meant.

What it has to do is people tend to be very judgemental. When you start speaking with them at deeper level it often turns out they have a tunnel vision. You are being reminded not to be judgemental. Let's think how many times in the past 50 years or so US should have been banned and wasn't, and how many times Germany should have been banned in the early 20th century and instead was awarded OGs. We are not supposed to be political here, let's not be. Both ways.

Ummmm, Germany was banned for 2 olympic cycles after 1918 and for 1 olympic cycle after 1945. No AIN, literally no concessions and full ban. If russia defeated Ukraine as they planned, they wouldn't stop there, so they are allowed as AIN only because they occured incapable to defeat country much smaller and poorer than they. Could we please refrain from this kind of topics?