Replay Lounge 2026 Olympics | Men

[withwings]

E L L A D J B A L D É on Instagram: "Figure Skating is one of the hardest sports mentally. The pressure is unbelievably heavy and there is no margin for error. Tonight was a tough one but I am so proud of all of these skaters for the work they have

76K likes, 1,160 comments - elladjbalde on February 13, 2026: "Figure Skating is one of the hardest sports mentally. The pressure is unbelievably heavy and there is no margin for error. Tonight was a tough one but I am so proud of all of these skaters for the work they have put in to get here...

www.instagram.com

 

[TontoK]

Definitely the worst of all Olympics Gold medalists of the last 6 Olympics And also the worst of the Olympic medal contenders here. And if we go beyond 2006 (where we had our first IJS Olympics) then worse than many of those too.

That's a bit harsh, but we can all have opinions.

But one thing that is beyond dispute; on the day that mattered most, he was the guy who grabbed the opportunity and won fair and square.

I might not particularly enjoy his programs, but he did everything he could, and it was more than enough. I can't be mad at that.

 

[tempusfugit]

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.

Chen's reply was a scripted, drivelling, absolutely formulaic 'response' which was no doubt fed him by his PR 'team' or 'representatives.'
He said nothing, he added nothing to the discussion in any way.
If a lot of people were 'interested' before in his 'perspective', they aren't now.

 

[tempusfugit]

That's a bit harsh, but we can all have opinions.

But one thing that is beyond dispute; on the day that mattered most, he was the guy who grabbed the opportunity and won fair and square.

I might not particularly enjoy his programs, but he did everything he could, and it was more than enough. I can't be mad at that.

No one's mad at him, and there was nothing 'harsh' about that summation of his abilities.
He's what appears to be a very nice guy who's a good jumper. That's it. He has one unique and special combination. His spins suck, his transitions are cursory at best, and his footwork is bad.

 

[Tutto]

The gods of Olympus must have punished Ilia for calling himself a god… at exactly the time that hurt most

 

[yfan1]

That's a bit harsh, but we can all have opinions.

But one thing that is beyond dispute; on the day that mattered most, he was the guy who grabbed the opportunity and won fair and square.

I might not particularly enjoy his programs, but he did everything he could, and it was more than enough. I can't be mad at that.

I appreciate his mental strength, and he seems like a likable person. I just think all the scrutiny on Ilia - the sympathetic, the fair criticism, and the unfair criticism, the things that have to with skating, the things that have nothing to do with skating - are all distracting from the OGM's abilities. That's very troubling on a website dedicated to skating. Social media is not something where such discussions will ever be happening, so I'd like to talk about it here.

Just compare him to the men I named, who were all "quadsters" who were at some point criticized. Chen had better line. Jin had those magnificent adrenaline pumping jumps (the ones that Browning on CBC described as having "rainbow" arcs this time) and could be fun on the ice. Malinin showed that he can indeed go for better skating quality with that Flamenco SP of his when he won his first world title. Compared to them... what does Shaidorov really have? A transition or two, and he's slower than all of them at their respective peaks. He can't perform short programs particularly well either, whereas all three of those usually laboured their way through jump drill watered down LPs. And yet, he's getting barely any scrutiny.

Even Vincent Zhou used to have a very nice spread eagle position, even though he didn't have amazing basic skating himself.

 

[frompolandwithlove]

Compared to them... what does Shaidorov really have? A transition or two, and he's slower than all of them at their respective peaks. He can't perform short programs particularly well either, whereas all three of those usually laboured through their way through jump drill watered down LPs. And yet, he's getting barely any scrutiny.

I think it's because he was not a favorite, his PCS was low as it should be and everyone is more or less aware he won because he stayed on his feet while others didn't. So we can all agree - yes, he doesn't do much skating in between jumps, he is not a well-rounded skater. There is nothing that could spark a discussion. Jumps won on that day, end of story.

 

[Mathman]

The gods of Olympus must have punished Ilia for calling himself a god…

They've always been touchy about that.

 

[lariko]

It was all right (in my humble opinion, of course). No worse than many. Anyway, whether he has a program or not, he does have one thing -- an Olympic Gold Medal.

He was also a runner up in the last worlds, silver medalist. 4cc champion. 4x GP medalist. Qualifier for GPF. Junior world silver medalist. Shaidorov is podium material since 2021, and he contested and took serious podiums since 2021.

 

[gsk8]

It's been confirmed that Malinin will compete at Worlds.

 

[Mathman]

Chen's reply was a scripted, drivelling, absolutely formulaic 'response' which was no doubt fed him by his PR 'team' or 'representatives.'

Nathan Chen by nature is polite and non-confrontational. Me, too --though sometimes my PR team, spokespeople and speechwriters let me down.

No, he didn't have anything to say. Me, neither..

 

[Mathman]

It's been confirmed that Malinin will compete at Worlds.

That's my boy. As an old rodeo fan I learned that when you fall off your horse, jump right back on!

 

[yfan1]

He has something to prove here, so I just hope he doesn't let the negativity get to him. And for that matter, what happened here get to him either.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Even Vincent Zhou used to have a very nice spread eagle position, even though he didn't have amazing basic skating himself.

For all his deficiencies, his 6th place performance at the 2018 Olympics was better than the Gold Medalist here. Although the PCS don't reflect it. Shaidorov should have scored much lower there.

Or if we want to compare in the same era of having 30 less seconds in the LP, Zhou had several performances in the 2019-2022 period that should outscore Shaidorov here.

 

[Mathman]

E L L A D J B A L D É on Instagram: "Figure Skating is one of the hardest sports mentally. The pressure is unbelievably heavy and there is no margin for error. Tonight was a tough one but I am so proud of all of these skaters for the work they have

76K likes, 1,160 comments - elladjbalde on February 13, 2026: "Figure Skating is one of the hardest sports mentally. The pressure is unbelievably heavy and there is no margin for error. Tonight was a tough one but I am so proud of all of these skaters for the work they have put in to get here...

www.instagram.com

Elladj Balde is right about that ("figure skating is one of the hardest sports mentally.") Another, so I would imagine, is balance beam in gymnastics. It requires such fine tuning of muscles and nerves..

In a sport like distance running, even on an off day you can jog along and not suffer total disaster.

 

[tempusfugit]

Nathan Chen by nature is polite and non-confrontational. Me, too --though sometimes my PR team, spokespeople and speechwriters let me down.

No, he didn't have anything to say. Me, neither..

Are you a famous skater and ex-Olympic gold medallist? I didn't think so.

 

[Mathman]

Are you a famous skater and ex-Olympic gold medallist? I didn't think so.

Yes. But keep my secret, OK?

 

[lariko]

It's been confirmed that Malinin will compete at Worlds.

Makes sense. Back on the bike, and fingers crossed for him in the worlds.

 

[tempusfugit]

Yes. But keep my secret, OK?

That's hilarious--right up there with the notion that Nathan Chen had anything to say.

 

[TallyT]

Watching the CBC replay, I noted something that they agreed that, that Mikhail's program "calmly and quietly" for a lot of technical stuff in.. and vitally, he did it well, good GOEs. In the end, when the favourite was aiming not just for win but for legend (or that's what Kurt Browning reported him saying) and overreached, and the second favourite got nervy... that was what was needed.

I am happy, though my preferred podium would have been Mikhail, Shun and Jun.