Replay Lounge 2026 Olympics | Men

[yfan1]

Hmm, turns out this is the same venue as 2018 Milan Worlds.

That, too, was a horrible event. I think the staff needs to look into the ice quality, since these are two major awful events at the same venue.

Also... that marked the downturn of men's skating to me, so I have no hopes at all for what comes after this.

Funnily, there too we had a reigning Olympic Silver Medalist do very poorly, get way too high scores, and end up silver overall. I thought Tomono should have been silver there, and Aliev bronze. But it was all SO bad that it really didn't matter to speak about it too much.

 

[sisinka]

To be fair to Petr, he had to change his music in the the last week or so. His original SP was to the Perfume: The Story of a Murderer soundtrack, but suddenly he couldn't get clearance to use the music, which had been successfully cleared for other skaters like Carreira & Ponomarenko.
....

Based on Russian sources, Petr had 3 days (looking at Olympics schedule it means 4 practises of 25 to 35 minutes) to adapt to new Short Program.

 

[readernick]

The team event was quite lovely. There were so many good skates from all the teams. Ice Dance was mostly enjoyable despite questionable judging. However, this event was depressing. Very few enjoyable skates. I'm happy Shun got a medal. I enjoyed Donovan, Yu-Hsiang, and Andrew's skates. Gogolev did well! The rest I would like to quickly forget.

 

[Greengemmonster]

Just curious how does this rank in terms of shock value for everyone? I think this has been the hardest to process for me and the most shocking. I’m still in disbelief at times when I think of all the times Ilia has won. I think it’s such a shock because he does not and has never struck me as nervy.

I mean this beats out 2022 which was shenanigans galore.

 

[4everchan]

I would argue with this a little bit, if you allow me @4everchan .

well you can always argue with anyone on here.

As to number of programs, yes.

As to jumping elements content..

they all have the same number of jumping passes.

Quad jumps are very energetically demanding.

So is choreography which is pretty demanding

While Stephen has 4toeloop and 4salchow, Ilia has more difficult jumps - 4flip and 4lutz.

and ? Stephen is 185 cms... Ilia is 174cms. The amount of quads is irrelevant as it's a choice Ilia made.

In Team Free Program Stephen goes with 3 quads against Ilia's 5 quads. Stephen executes them in the first part of the program, Ilia during the whole program.

Stephen has more choreography throughout

In Individual Free Program Stephen goes with 3 quads in the beginning of the program against Ilia's planned 7 quads, 3 of them in the second half of the program.

Ilia had 1 single axel, 1 double loop and 1 double salchow...

It is really that comparable having 4salchow and 4toeloop VERSUS all kind of quad jumps?

it's not relevant. skaters use the jumps they can do. If it's too tiring for Ilia to do all these quads, then he doesn't have to do them. There is nothing in the rules that says that he should do them... however, they both had to do 4 programs

Is it really the same to execute quad jumps in the beginning VERSUS in the second half of the program?

again... it's the choice of the skater. Also, let's not downplay Stephen's brilliant 3flip-3axel sequence done in the second half of his program.

It is really comparable to have six days with four programs having 10 quad jumps VERSUS 16 quad jumps? Mentally? Physically?

his choice. let me compare to something I do... if a pianist decides to play a very difficult piece in concert, he has mastered it and will play it. It will require the same exact amount of focus than a pianist playing an easier work. It may be more difficult physically but at the same time, the pianist trained for the harder piece and that will be it.

Stephen did great and admirable job. I agree.
But I am persuaded that physical and mental demands of Stephen and Ilia's Free Programs are no way comparable.

I am not convinced and I think it's a very dangerous argument. Ilia has trained for his programs for the entire year. If he isn't able to sustain that amount of quads as you suggest, then he is not being careful with his mental and physical health. Gogolev is coming back from a very serious back injury which meant he couldn't even skate at Nationals last year. He is building his arsenal based on one very important thing : remaining healthy.

I am sorry but I am actually not buying your argument this time around. Every skater out there needs to deliver their planned content. It's up to them to select what will work and avoid what will not work. You imply that Ilia failed because he has too many quads and it was easier on Gogolev because he only landed 10 quads in 6 days ... An athlete is responsible for pacing themselves. A coaching team too.

I could counter argue that Ilia has competed tons on the circuit since 2022 and is used to skate that often with so much pressure and with so many quads. Gogolev was out with injury and that was his first big competition since 2023 4CC. He has never been to senior worlds. Everything was big and new for him. He had the pressure of doing so well for Canada to qualify for the LPs in the team event. Every athlete has their own challenges and paths to follow. I wouldn't compare them in an attempt to say that someone was more tired.

The reality out there is that Ilia was nervous. It showed in the warm-up. It showed when he hit the ice. When he popped his axel, he got into his head and lost his timing. That's the reality and nothing other skaters did or didn't do is relevant about that.

 

[museksk8r]

Just curious how does this rank in terms of shock value for everyone? I think this has been the hardest to process for me and the most shocking. I’m still in disbelief at times when I think of all the times Ilia has won. I think it’s such a shock because he does not and has never struck me as nervy.

I mean this beats out 2022 which was shenanigans galore.

There is no quantifiable scale to how shocking this result is. I haven’t been the same since watching it and I am certainly not his biggest fan. I had only started warming up to him this season. It’s the most shocking result in my 34 years of watching skating.

 

[Greengemmonster]

There is no quantifiable scale to how shocking this result is. I haven’t been the same since watching it and I am certainly not his biggest fan. I had only started warming up to him this season. It’s the most shocking result in my 34 years of watching skating.

I keep thinking how hard it must be for him if I’m having trouble digesting it. I yo-yo between feeling positive about the podium to “Omg poor Ilia.” And I am just some random person on the internet. He worked his whole life for this.

 

[readernick]

The reality out there is that Ilia was nervous. It showed in the warm-up. It showed when he hit the ice. When he popped his axel, he got into his head and lost his timing. That's the reality and nothing other skaters did or didn't do is relevant about that.

Agree. Although, I think he looked fine in the warmup. The jumps looked easy.. But, honestly that's just more proof it wasn't a physical exhaustion issue. He just popped the 4A and then he lost his confidence and let his nerves get to him. Ilya's human. We all are . .. No shame in that. He'll learn from this experience if he doesn't blame external events and acknowledges the internal issue.

 

[tempusfugit]

Here is my take on Ilia's skating issues and hopefully does not come across as a conspiracy theory!
This started in the team events, when he skated well enough but not up to the over-hyped Ilia standard. Something was up.... Then Rafael Arutunian was called and received an "emergency clearance" to come to Milan and help coach Ilia, in addition to the fact that Ilia was not practicing at the Olympic practice venue, but at another location in Italy (I also remember reading that the ladies were practicing off-site, so this may be insignificant). I think that maybe Ilia "lost" his jump/quad abilities, similar to the Simone Biles "twisties" issue that caused her to drop out of the 2020 Olympics. Hence, Raf showing up and the off-site practices kept this development under wraps. When Ilia came off the ice in the short program, i could hear Raf saying something like "Yes?? The technique worked." I really think Ilia just temporarily "lost" his ability to do jumps beyond a double, much less being able to jump quads. His popping jumps and falling on the ice were so VERY UNCHARACTERISTIC of him, that something else other than Olympic nerves was going on. Anyways, just my layman's opinion of what may have happened.

No. Ex-elite gymnast here. Jumping/twisting in ice skating is in no way comparable to jumping/twisting in gymnastics, for too many reasons to bother enumerating.

 

[discodisco]

I doubt it wasn't easy for Ilia to congratulate Mikhail. They both have a great deal of understanding and respect for each other. Ilia took his time, too, reassuring Mikhail that he deserved his gold medal win. A lot of people just do not know what a great, down-to-earth young man Ilia is. A lot of people tag him as too cocky. Nope. He's just talented, self-aware, and generally a cool, tough competitor. But underneath all of that he's generous and kind.

To be honest, I think it was probably easier for Elia to congratulate him when it was clearly a total blowout. It would have been harder for Elvis to congratulate Alexi and 1994 when it was super close, or Michelle in 1998, when they were probably feelings for both that they could have / should have won. But last night? It was pretty obvious that one skater vastly outskated the other... and please don't read this as me not being impressed with Ilya - I absolutely was, and although he's not my favorite, I was really really sad for him and would much rather he had being the winner.

 

[tempusfugit]

So I was doing the math because I am pretty irked by people saying Ilia is only 21. Well, in 2030, he'll be 25. The only men's singles skater since 1980 who won Olympic gold older than 24 is Scott Hamilton.

Stellato-Dudek won a Worlds at 41. Several of the leading ice dance teams in this Olympics are *well* over 30. Competitors in figure skating and gymnastics have been staying in the sport longer for many years now, and the trend continues towards older athletes succeeding brilliantly. Simone Biles, anyone?

 

[museksk8r]

Agree. Although, I think he looked fine in the warmup. The jumps looked easy.. But, honestly that's just more proof it wasn't a physical exhaustion issue. He just popped the 4A and then he lost his confidence and let his nerves get to him. Ilya's human. We all are . .. No shame in that. He'll learn from this experience if he doesn't blame external events and acknowledges the internal issue.

Yeah, Ilia has opened up that his mental game was off for this performance and he allowed his inner saboteur to fill his mind with negative thoughts and doubt. Brian Boitano and Christine Brennan talked about this on their podcast and Brian pointed out that this is the most difficult task for a skater to manage before a performance. https://youtu.be/esHSm9Y1kds?si=GgNJASPgltgs8jkw

Brian himself fell victim to his own inner saboteur in the technical program at the 1994 Olympics, falling on his 3Axel and placing 8th in that segment.

 

[saine]

ooof. Christine Brennan (I am mixed on her) is saying USFS pressured Ilia to do the team freeskate.

I'll add what she wrote in her article that said this after the Team Event:

Ilia Malinin didn’t want to skate the long program in the Olympic figure skating team competition. He wanted to rest up for the more important individual men’s event beginning Tuesday. His coaches felt the same way. It was a definite no.

But when U.S. Figure Skating called upon him late Saturday night, saying the event was going to be too close and potentially lost without him, he had no choice but to say yes.

It turned out to be the best decision of his young career.

I think there was a lot of pressure on him for two gold medals, the Team Event and individual. It was the best decision after they got the gold in the Team, and now it's looking like the worst decision after he didn't get on the podium in the individual event.

If he had stuck with his original plan, then he would have been seen as 'losing' the Team gold for the USA. That's a lot to carry, and now that he finished off the podium, it's not going to be seen as 'the best decision of his young career.'

 

[discodisco]

Not like this. One of the least artistic people winning, after everyone else crashes and burns, is the nightmare this scoring system has been building up to. All of the ugly time-consuming footwork and spins, and removing 30 seconds from the programs, in addition to pushing for as many quads as possible, has killed the ability to give complete performances. Nobody is even trying anymore.

Look at Alexei Yagudin's winning program in 2002. He spends an entire 20 seconds at the start of the program only doing choreography, setting a mood, showing depth of emotion and giving purpose to the music. There are 3 sections in the program like that, plus his footwork sequences have actual rhythm and shape and convey a clear sense of action and storytelling. This SO necessary to have in programs, and it's something that's completely gone now. Programs have no room to breathe and nobody is trying to create these evocative, interpretative passages anymore. It's just boring turns all over the place in the name "difficulty" and random knee slides and backflips thrown into the "choreo sequence" element.

The actual most pleasing display of skating skill is how well the skater caresses the ice with their blades (which nobody does anymore), how well a skater can hold an edge (which also nobody does anymore), and how well people are able to do movement out of standstills and unexpected body positions, which is again not seen much.

Finally, someone who agrees with me that the step sequences under IJS are terribly not aesthetic and take up too much time.

I readily admit that if you look at a step sequence from today versus back in the 90s, there's no contest - they are far more complicated today to the point where I don't even think the skaters in the 90s could do what the Juniors do today. But the way it has rewarded skaters who flail over the ice with all sorts of body shapes and positions and reaching for this guy and touching the ice, Etc, means that they are very few step sequences that actually add to a program. It's really, if I'm being honest the only skater that I think actually looked fantastic during a step sequence of Patrick chan, and that was due to his Superior Mastery of the blade. But honestly, most of the time I just cringe because step sequences take too long, and for the most part, aren't that Pleasant to watch...

I don't think I'm saying that I'd like to go back to those super lame repetitive step sequences of the 90s or even early 2000s, but the skaters only do that flailing and whatnot but they do today because it's required to get level 4 - not because I think any of them would have thought, hey, this looks great in a program.

 

[discodisco]

No, if anyone need to put a blame for this event, USFS and ISU are the ones you are looking. I wrote it many times for the last few years, creating Ilia as invicible even if his jupms weren't working and crowning him OGM around 2023 did him huge disservice. Hyping the 4A just before the Olympics also had part in this.

I'm still so sad for Adam, I guess he just can't have good SP, he needs something to chase. I will forever wonder what would be the outcome if the'd still draw inside the groups and both Misha and Ilia would skate before Adam, would Misha's score be enough to chase? I hope he stays for a while because he is lacking at least 2 WC medals.

Part of the problem with Adams is that the same technique that makes his quads impressive, and hi, is what makes them inconsistent. You never know if he's going to land them, and when he does, it's rarely with a ton of control. The way he attacks and throws himself into the jumps with abandoned, is what made Osmond's jumps so inconsistent for so long - although she was probably a bit more consistent than him.

Anyway, I think that skaters who learned to be more calculated and consistent in their technique tend to end up with better consistency. Bigger isn't always better, and in skating, it rarely brings consistency.

 

[4everchan]

I'll add what she wrote in her article that said this after the Team Event:


I think there was a lot of pressure on him for two gold medals, the Team Event and individual. It was the best decision after they got the gold in the Team, and now it's looking like the worst decision after he didn't get on the podium in the individual event.

If he had stuck with his original plan, then he would have been seen as 'losing' the Team gold for the USA. That's a lot to carry, and now that he finished off the podium, it's not going to be seen as 'the best decision of his young career.'

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.

 

[discodisco]

Yeah. I'll probably rewatch Gogolev too as a joy-making moment, because I want to believe that his upward trajectory will continue at worlds. He had shown himself as a podium contender at Olympics and I like both of his programs. I want big medals to start happening for him again.

I'm incredibly impressed with his presence of mind and control throughout this competition. He should be incredibly proud, as all of Canada is for him. I think he will probably get a bit of a PCS Boost from now on, but I don't think he is quite at the point where his program is going to stand up amongst half a dozen or more other clean programs.

If all of them are clean, he's still going to leave to kevin, and probably half a dozen other skaters in addition. What I hope this does is give him confidence to really address the two things his skating is lacking - speed, and projection.

I would Hazard to say that his program is one of the most complex out there in the men's this year. I noticed it right away in the fall - tons of Transitions and complex entries into so many of his jumps, in fact it's why I guess he was going to beat Roman quite early on in the season - Romans program was beautiful, but quite empty choreographically in terms of a lack of Transitions and too much 2-ft skating, etcetera. Obviously Roman is faster with better blade and Edge quality, but his program was pretty, yet pretty empty as well.

Anyway, if Stephen can look up more (hobestly, maybe wear a bit of makeup to make his facial features more noticeable) and just amp that and his speed up 20%, I think he could maintain a similar position to where he finished here, even if others skate clean.

 

[discodisco]

Stellato-Dudek won a Worlds at 41. Several of the leading ice dance teams in this Olympics are *well* over 30. Competitors in figure skating and gymnastics have been staying in the sport longer for many years now, and the trend continues towards older athletes succeeding brilliantly. Simone Biles, anyone?

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.

 

[skatesofgold]

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

Thank you, you expressed this much better than I could.

 

[lariko]

I'm incredibly impressed with his presence of mind and control throughout this competition. He should be incredibly proud, as all of Canada is for him. I think he will probably get a bit of a PCS Boost from now on, but I don't think he is quite at the point where his program is going to stand up amongst half a dozen or more other clean programs.

If all of them are clean, he's still going to leave to kevin, and probably half a dozen other skaters in addition. What I hope this does is give him confidence to really address the two things his skating is lacking - speed, and projection.

I would Hazard to say that his program is one of the most complex out there in the men's this year. I noticed it right away in the fall - tons of Transitions and complex entries into so many of his jumps, in fact it's why I guess he was going to beat Roman quite early on in the season - Romans program was beautiful, but quite empty choreographically in terms of a lack of Transitions and too much 2-ft skating, etcetera. Obviously Roman is faster with better blade and Edge quality, but his program was pretty, yet pretty empty as well.

Anyway, if Stephen can look up more (hobestly, maybe wear a bit of makeup to make his facial features more noticeable) and just amp that and his speed up 20%, I think he could maintain a similar position to where he finished here, even if others skate clean.

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.