Replay Lounge 2026 Olympics | Men

[BlissfulSynergy]

I reiterate: not a great competition. This is obvious in many of the performances and in the scoring results. No one received pcs in the 9s for the fp, as is usually the case for top skaters. The top three guys in the sp received pcs in the 9s. Different story in the fp.

Not a great Olympics so far either
The coverage is ghastly and exhausting. And I'm only watching hours of figure skating, with a load of annoying commercial ads. What a bust to build up four years to this anticlimax. I don't know what's happening in the other winter sports. No time to watch. Maybe I will check for highlights of other sports later, if they are still up.

Does anyone know why Peacock is shuttering Belinda Noonan's commentary? I heard her voice for the first skater in men's event. Then, she was gone. Sucks.

 

[skatesofgold]

Honestly, this was probably worse to watch than 2014 and that's saying a lot coming from me. Men are gonna men, I guess.

 

[noskates]

I feel terrible for Ilia. But what a show of sportsmanship for him to congratulate Shaiderov immediately after the scores came up. As for who should have been where and who shouldn't, I always thinks its wonderful for armchair skating judges to sit back and criticize.....and I mean that in the most sarcastic way. There is never a competition where some of you don't find fault with the judges. It is what it is! Congrats to Yuma and Shun for their medals. And didn't Mikhail's coach sneak into his gold medal pretty much the same way? The ice is slippery.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Tbh, I feel that my order would be Shaidorov, Sato, Cha, Gogolev, Gumennik, Kagiyama because I feel that the tech panel resolved all of Gumennik's jumps against him, while giving everyone else a benefit of doubt. But what's the point... Kagiyama got his medal yet again.

Totally agree with you, honestly. Except Sato gets way too much credit. I would still have Cha ahead of Sato!!!

 

[Greengemmonster]

Honestly, this was probably worse to watch than 2014 and that's saying a lot coming from me. Men are gonna men, I guess.

2014 had more artistry but here in 2026 Gold and Bronze were mostly clean. I think that once I process the shock of it all, 2026 is not so bad.
But I’m biased cuz Shun medalled

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

They put it first so that the teams take it more seriously. Especially as time goes on.

Both Ilya and Bock have Olympic gold medals because of the team event.

LOL. I think what @SubRosa means is that starting with individual events first allows skaters to be fresh for their individual chances. I'm not certain it would have necessarily worked in the U.S.'s favor overall, though. While it might have helped Chock/ Bates to start with the individual event, Ilia was not that great in the team event sp. He pulled out second place, but he wasn't himself. He did a yeoman job in the team event fp. And it seemed like he might have worked things out in the individual sp. But he was still a bit tight. So was Yuma in the individual sp. It was only in the team event sp that Yuma shined. Yuma does not deserve that individual silver medal, at all.

 

[moonvine]

https://people.com/ilia-malinin-struggled-negative-thoughts-before-2026-winter-olympic-figure-skating-final-11906900

 

[ChiGal]

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.

 

[tempusfugit]

OMG OMG OMG. Feel bad for Malinin but love an upset.
Goes to show you can never, ever crown an Olympic champion in advance. It's a whole other ball game.

Highlights...Shaidorov's increasing disbelief and shock as it played out. Yuma Kagiyama going nuts for his mate Shun Sato winning a bronze medal.

I was watching on the bbc and they didn't show the winning skate. I thought "oh wouldn't it be funny if the bbc misses showing a medallist".. and they missed the champion!


Also- HOW did Kevin Aymoz manage to land most of his jumps?! Guy is like a cat!

Exactly, about the champion's routine. I was watching on Auntie Beeb as well, sigh. I sometimes have to mute Kat Downes--she is so witless.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

After the results of this Olympics, I am betting that USFS lobbies hard for the Team Event to be the last, not first, event contested.

Malinin might have fared worse if he had not done the team event first.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

On the BBC Kat Downes was on about how Yuma Kagiyama was worrying about Ilia Malinin widening the gulf between their scores and it messing with his head .. but Yuma was the one who held it together enough after a less than ideal start and ended up on the podium. So go figure.

Huh? Yuma was helped a lot by the judges. He should not have been on the podium at all with that fp messiness! Shun Sato ain't all that either.

Too much hype and OTT build-up in this sport, by far. We will certainly see what happens next, when the dust clears. I like the sp podium here best. Except that Adam should have been in second over Yuma, who is constantly coddled by the judges.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Exactly, about the champion's routine. I was watching on Auntie Beeb as well, sigh. I sometimes have to mute Kat Downes--she is so witless.

They did put it up on the bbc news website pretty quick though.

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.

You know what... i had a feeling he might not take the gold. And then all the thing about practicing away from the others added to that suspicion. Something was clearly up.
But I figured he would somehow make a bronze at least with a mistake or two.

Perhaps the problem with someone winning so much is that sometimes it's almost like a loss is overdue? Maybe the relative lack of adversity makes it harder to cope when things go wrong at the biggest occasion? I'm kind of reminded of the womens Euros in the football (soccer). England women struggled through a lot of their matches.. yet Spain (who sailed through to the final) lost the final- their overwhelming wins made them vulnerable in an unexpected way (another example- team GB in mixed curling this Olympics).

 

[Mathman]

Well, nobody else seems to want to come right out and say it (except SmileHappy), so I guess it's up to me. This was the worst men's free skate in Olympic history.

I hope that four years from now the we will see less quading (that is, attempted quading) and more skating. Keep the shiny side down, guys, butts off the ice.

 

[freedomlover]

Huh? Yuma was helped a lot by the judges. He should not have been on the podium at all with that fp messiness! Shun Sato ain't all that either.

Too much hype and OTT build-up in this sport, by far. We will certainly see what happens next, when the dust clears. I like the sp podium here best. Except that Adam should have been in second over Yuma, who is constantly coddled by the judges.

You should chill about your remarks regarding Shun being overscored. This was on the lower end for him. Everyone ahead just did not deliver.

 

[freedomlover]

Well, nobody else seems to want to come right out and say it (except SmileHappy), so I guess it's up to me. This was the worst men's free skate in Olympic history.

I hope that four years from now the we will see less quading (that is, attempted quading) and more skating. Keep the shiny side down, guys.

I did feel like a historically bad competition too me, but I wondered if my perspective was skewed from the relative clean shorts.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Malinin might have fared worse if he had not done the team event first.

You say that, but obviously predictions about what would happen if, are unreliable. Ilia already had new boot issues; he was dealing with way too much U.S. media pressure; and the team event was taxing mentally more than physically; plus the men's event came so soon after the team event. Then 2 days in between the sp and fp is just not normal. It surely takes a lot of mental and physical adjustments.

Ilia has not been going for the quad-axel all season. I think he felt pressure to land it at the Olympics. But with new boots, a lot of scores over 100, and both Adam and Yuma messing up in the fp (with Yuma kept on the podium by judges), Ilia should have been counseled to be conservative and to stay within himself. Forget about the quad-axel and skate a clean program. He had options, but obv his team didn't think to tell him to 'keep it simple...' keep it safe and clean.

US fed need to tone it down at some point and try to keep the media at bay at least a week prior to the Olympics, so skaters have some time to unwind and check in with themselves. Their faces and voices do not constantly have to be seen and heard. Do some taping of commercial spots and interviews in advance, and slow it down just before and during the Olympics so the athletes can focus on the work at hand they are there to do. Honestly!

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

You should chill about your remarks regarding Shun being overscored. This was on the lower end for him. Everyone ahead just did not deliver.

This is my opinion. You can love Shun Sato and enjoy him and celebrate his bronze medal win. I do not think he's as good as the high GOE and pcs he gets. I will not tone down my opinions. I personally prefer Tomono to Sato. But I guess Tomono will be retiring. Now, try to defend Yuma being kept on the podium with a mistake in the short and multiple mistakes in the fp.

 

[TallyT]

This is my opinion. You can love Shun Sato and enjoy him and celebrate his bronze medal win. I do not think he's as good as the high GOE and pcs he gets. I will not tone down my opinions. I personally prefer Tomono to Sato. But I guess Tomono will be retiring. Now, try to defend Yuma being kept on the podium with a mistake in the short and multiple mistakes in the fp.

He was better than the rest.

(And maybe it was karma for the way he was held down so Ilia Malinin could win in the team FS. Turnabout seems to be fair play.)

Malinin melted under huge pressure, it happened to Yuzuru and Patrick in 2014 (though neither as badly, both had insane pressure going in and one managed to fight through) and Nathan in 2018.

 

[anonymoose_au]

I've just finished catching up on the Free skate and

O
M
G

Mikhail!!! I couldn't believe it!! I'm crushed for Ilia, but I'm huge Misha fan and was cheering wildly when I thought he'd gotten bronze just like Deniss all those years ago, I was cheering even harder when it was going to be silver and lost my mind when it became gold! Misha's gonna wake up tomorrow and think it was all a dream! Until he sees the beautiful gold medal

Yuma is a wonderful sportsman! He was so happy for everyone, especially Shun that was so sweet. And shout out to Ilia for congratulating Misha so quickly, that couldn't have been easy for him but it was genuine and awesome.

Also bummed for Adam, such a shame he couldn't bring it today, still he's got his amazing SP to remember.

And as always Jun-liet's Junabauer is worth the admission to the rink, it's truly the most beautiful choreo element out there.

All credit to Gogo, he's really come back! After all these years too! So happy for him.

And lastly, all love to Maxim N, if there was a medal for bravery he would have it, two beautiful programs dedicated to his parents memory, they'd be so proud, it's enough to make you cry.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Well, nobody else seems to want to come right out and say it (except SmileHappy), so I guess it's up to me. This was the worst men's free skate in Olympic history.

In my opinion a healthy dose of "bad skating" and unpredictable ordinals is the ideal at an Olympics. You get great stories (e.g. Gogolev overcoming all that history, exceeding all expectations), upset results, attention from the wider world. A perfect storm of entertainment. And ultimately, why do people watch sport? For entertainment.

Sure, there have been many competitions where there has been a way better standard of skating- but not many of those will be as memorable as the historic win here. This was every cliche about a mens skating competition turned up to 11. And Shaidorov was great!

(Not that I don't feel bad for those skaters who are disappointed with how they did, obviously).