Replay Lounge 2026 Olympics | Men

[saine]

you know, he could have skipped the team event and still skated poorly in the LP. That's also to consider. And then, he would have had only a silver in the team event and a lot of backlash too.

If he had split and they'd gotten the silver, I can only imagine the backlash adding on to the pressure. There was already the backlash when Gilles/Poirier didn't do the free, but they knew what was best for themselves (I questioned it too.)

 

[discodisco]

I prefer clean and confident to all that half-a-dozen skaters who skate pretty and struggle all the time, starting with Kagiyama, let alone Aymoz who poses and weeps more than he skates. If Gogolev skates like he did in teams or better, I want him rewarded, up to a medal over all that ah, knees! crowd.

Hmm... I both agree and disagree with you. This is skating after all, and they are in the air for a tiny fraction of the program. To me Yuma still has a cushion over Stephen, and a clean Stephen doesn't necessarily mean beating Superior skaters who have a few errors.

That said, I hope he is rewarded for what he does do on the ice, and that is a good combination of solid jumps, and very complex choreography. He still has a bit of work to do to put it all together with the style and effectiveness of some of his competitors, but I do agree with you that someone like Kevin really doesn't do it for me, because the highs and lows are so dramatic, and maybe that's touching once in a while, but to have it every second skate makes it lose its appeal..

 

[tempusfugit]

Different animals. I'm not saying it would not be possible, and I definitely hope he goes for it.

But there's a reason that dancers compete until their mid to late 30s and single skaters are usually done by their mid-20s. Again, they both master different things in their disciplines and craft, but single skaters can rarely keep up the high physical demand and stress on the body of the jumps, which makes them far less likely to have extended lengthy careers.

He'll be 25. Even in ballet--which is far worse on the body than figure skating--25 is considered a dancer/athlete's prime.
'Far less likely' is the story of Malinin's career to date, so I'm not impressed by 'statistics' in this case.

 

[labgoat]

This event reminds me a bit of the 1994 Olympics where the top 3 returning pros crashed and burned - but in the SP not the FS. Lots of menning and redemption skating here. Other fun fact note Yuma's Dad in 12th place.

Rank	Name	Nation	SP	FS	TFP
	Alexei Urmanov	Russia	1	1	1.5
	Elvis Stojko	Canada	2	2	3.0
	Philippe Candeloro	France	3	5	6.5
4	Viktor Petrenko	Ukraine	9	4	8.5
5	Kurt Browning	Canada	12	3	9.0
6	Brian Boitano	United States	8	6	10.0
7	Éric Millot	France	6	7	10.0
8	Scott Davis	United States	4	8	10.0
9	Steven Cousins	Great Britain	7	9	12.5
10	Sébastien Britten	Canada	10	10	15.0
11	Oleg Tataurov	Russia	5	13	15.5
12	Masakazu Kagiyama	Japan	11	11	16.5

 

[Jennyf]

He'll be 25. Even in ballet--which is far worse on the body than figure skating--25 is considered a dancer/athlete's prime.
'Far less likely' is the story of Malinin's career to date, so I'm not impressed by 'statistics' in this case.

I agree, and I just can’t see Ilia retiring not having one any individual Olympic medal. No one can predict what will happen of course, but I assume it is his intent to stick around. I also believe this will light a fire under him and next season he will come roaring back. There are certainly things he can improve in his skating. I tend to favor the more artistic skaters, but with Ilia I see so much potential for him to be the whole package. And the longer a skater stays in the game, the better they tend to become.

 

[moonvine]

Former USA star Nathan Chen breaks silence on Ilia Malinin's Olympic Mishap

Former United States star figure skater Nathan Chen broke his silence on Ilia Malinin's collapse at the Winter Olympics.

www.newsweek.com

 

[skylark]

I hope Ilia realizes that one skate does not define him as a skater or as a person.

He's still the brilliant skater .... and he has his own gorgeous, crazy brand of artistry as well as awesome jumping technique and accomplishments ... that he's been for the last 4 or 5 years. We love you, Ilia!

 

[SmileHappy34]

'Accurate and true' to you, I suppose. Neither Japanese guy actually belongs on the podium. Sato was overscored, as was Yuma for both programs with mistakes. Gogolev, Gumennik, and Cha had better overall performances than both Yuma and Sato. It's just that Yuma and Sato are political favorites and always given overly high GOEs. Cha has better pcs abilities than Sato. Of course, Yuma and Sato have better aesthetics than Gogolev and Gumennik, but Yuma especially did not perform well and Sato is not as good as the pcs he's given.

The podium should be Shaidorov, Cha, Sato, with Yuma in 4th, Gogolev in 5th, and Gumennik 6th. Basically switching out Yuma and Cha because Cha was hosed by judges in both programs, especially on pcs.

Agree they make good cases to ne on podium. They mess up in short

 

[Jhar55]

Ilia has been under so much pressure not only by ISU, fans to win the gold medal. Had friends ask before Olympics said everyone is beatable, all takes is one bad skate and all pressure added to that not going turn out well. Will he hang around for four more years or throw his skates in trash move on something else, may not be worth his mental health put himself through that again. Will have wait and see. What ever Ilia decides hope it’s whatever makes him happy

 

[SmileHappy34]

Why do I care Nathan Chen broke his silence.
Doesnt matter.
He is ogm that contributed to ilia hype by being silent
Most of u s. Ogm hyped ilia up where ever they went .
So theycould be seen and heard .
Look at our next best skater while we talk about our Ogm past

 

[SmileHappy34]

Ilia has been under so much pressure not only by ISU, fans to win the gold medal. Had friends ask before Olympics said everyone is beatable, all takes is one bad skate and all pressure added to that not going turn out well. Will he hang around for four more years or throw his skates in trash move on something else, may not be worth his mental health put himself through that again. Will have wait and see. What ever Ilia decides hope it’s whatever makes him happy

Ilia has no pressure. Just the hype he help by declaring himself quad god and usa oly gold medalist helped

 

[SmileHappy34]

I agree, and I just can’t see Ilia retiring not having one any individual Olympic medal. No one can predict what will happen of course, but I assume it is his intent to stick around. I also believe this will light a fire under him and next season he will come roaring back. There are certainly things he can improve in his skating. I tend to favor the more artistic skaters, but with Ilia I see so much potential for him to be the whole package. And the longer a skater stays in the game, the better they tend to become.

Adelina did not retire on one olympic medals, Tara, Sarah, ilia kulik, Alexis yagudin, alexi urmanov,Vincent Zhou, Adam ripping, Mirai Nagasau, Javier Fernandez, Mikhail Koyalda to name a few.

 

[SmileHappy34]

There was backlash after team and he finished 2nd

 

[SmileHappy34]

I read why posters want ilia to stay in
Why should he? For 4cc gold. To erase this individual memory.
He has wt , wtt title, grand prix title

Landed quad axel among other quads.
What does he have to prove to audience or fans?
What should he have to prove?

 

[lariko]

Ilia will stay because he obviously loves skating and because without him USFS will end up with one spot in men.

 

[NanaPat]

If he had split and they'd gotten the silver, I can only imagine the backlash adding on to the pressure. There was already the backlash when Gilles/Poirier didn't do the free, but they knew what was best for themselves (I questioned it too.)

I remember the backlash when Virtue/Moyer did the free in 2018; "selfishly robbing Weaver/Poje of an Olympic gold medal" (according to some "fans").

At least in Canada we have Skate Canada making the decisions on the team and not the individual skaters. I was astonished when the team event started and the rhetoric started around the top US skaters choosing which programs they wanted to do (in practice, deciding whether to do SP only or SP + FP). Imagine if the top hockey players decided when they wanted to go on the ice! It would be chaos. Or swimmers deciding what parts (qualifying, finals, etc) of a relay they want to swim.

I do think that the federations should take the skaters' preferences into account, but "only in America" would the skaters be dictating the team lineup.

 

[Mathman]

Why do I care Nathan Chen broke his silence.

I think a lot of people are interested in Nathan Chen's perspective because he went through a similar experience, and he is thoughtful observer.

 

[SmileHappy34]

I think a lot of people are interested in Nathan Chen's perspective because he went through a similar experience, and he is thoughtful observer.

No. He didn't. He wasn't hyped.
He could have spoke up earlier during the hype to bring up his perspective.
He didn't

Let's be real and honest Nathan perspective is your personal opinion on it. Why u think Nathan important. It not wrong. Not everyone think like u.

 

[SmileHappy34]

Ilia will stay because he obviously loves skating and because without him USFS will end up with one spot in men.

That is your perspective of why ilia should stay in.
Let's be real and honest.

 

[lariko]

That is your perspective of why ilia should stay in.
Let's be real and honest.

Do you imply that I am not for real or dishonest? If so, I will not reply to you again, as i do not talk to those who lower themselves to personal insults.