Replay Lounge 2026 Olympics | Men

[Mathman]

He has something to prove...

But does he? Does he have to prove that he is capable of skating a 6-quad program with a 4A and crushing a field consisting of the best skaters in the world? No, that was settled at 2024 World Championships.

A 7-quad program with a 4A setting the world record in IJS points? 2025 Grand Prix Final.

Does he have to prove that he can do all this at the Olympics? Well, he will have to wait four years for that opportunity. It won't come next month in Prague.

 

[Mathman]

In the end, when [Malinin] was aiming not just for win but for legend...) and overreached, and the second favourite got nervy...

Right on in terms of congratulating Shaidorov.

However, as regards Malinin, hindsight is always 20-20. But just as ofen, the opposite happens. The. favorite holds back, skates cautiously, and loses to someone with more fire on that day. I, for one, am glad that Ilia went down swinging for the fences. He didn't just want to eek out a squeaker, he wanted to put his stamp on the sport. I can't fault him for that attitude -- not at all.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

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.

I was happy with the winner. I wasn’t crazy about the music, as the woman was shouting at times. (I universally dislike lyrics in programs because they add additional meaning to the music that is lost if you don’t understand the language.) But this is a sport and those jumps were delivered very impressively. He might not have the judge’s favorite, but they could not have given this title to anyone else.

I just wish all these programs felt more “Olympic.” I remember watching the women in 2002 thinking at least 5 of those long programs would have been iconic if delivered perfectly to capture gold (the medalists, plus Sasha and Maria B). Nonetheless, one must win and the best man did.

 

[4everchan]

I was happy with the winner. I wasn’t crazy about the music, as the woman was shouting at times. (I universally dislike lyrics in programs because they add additional meaning to the music that is lost if you don’t understand the language.) But this is a sport and those jumps were delivered very impressively. He might not have the judge’s favorite, but they could not have given this title to anyone else.

I just wish all these programs felt more “Olympic.” I remember watching the women in 2002 thinking at least 5 of those long programs would have been iconic if delivered perfectly to capture gold (the medalists, plus Sasha and Maria B). Nonetheless, one must win and the best man did.

it's a man singing he even gave Misha a car for his win

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

it's a man singing he even gave Misha a car for his win

See? I might have known that had I spoken the language

 

[4everchan]

See? I might have known that had I spoken the language

Dimash Kudaibergen uses falsetto a lot... (head voice) so you don't have to feel badly about thinking it was a woman singing. I was just being cheeky

 

[bekalc]

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.

Shaidorov had struggled to even fund his skating and literally had a lot of online coaching.

Hopefully the money here will get him better choreography.

His jump technique is incredible and that combo is incredible.

 

[reneerose]

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

Oh good. A rematch - if the others all show back up.

 

[yfan1]

Shaidorov had struggled to even fund his skating and literally had a lot of online coaching.

His jump technique is incredible and that combo is incredible.

I'm very happy for him that he can get better coaching now. It remains to be seen how much of his choreography was because of "no funding", much like it remains to be seen how many people calling Malinin bad for the sport were doing so out of genuine concern for skating, because as I said - Shaidorov's skating is worse on every regard.

His jump technique isn't "incredible". His Lutz is pre-rotated, just as one example.

And yes, his flaws do deserve to be scrutinized regardless of how much funding he's had - he's the OGM.

 

[gsk8]

Ilia Malinin will still perform in Olympic gala alongside skating medalists

MSN

 

[yfan1]

But does he?

Yes. He has to prove this was just a fluke.

He also has to prove the haters wrong That you can choke at a competition, but it won't take much away from you as a competitor. That his ego and arrogance, if we must use those words, are well-earned.

 

[gsk8]

I don't think there is anything to prove. Guy just had a bad skate. It happens to all of them.

 

[yfan1]

I don't think there is anything to prove. Guy just had a bad skate. It happens to all of them.

Not everyone chokes at such a big event. If he and Shaidorov both go, and he beats Shaidorov, he'll certainly have proven something. He can certainly also try to perform his programs the best he did this season, and prove something there too, that he can be a better skater overall.

I also frankly feel he has more potential as a skater, so I do hope he invests more time into the overall aspect of it these next few years, and proves people wrong there too.

 

[Magill]

Arrogance is never well-earned. Just a notion that it might be perceived as justified is beyond me.

Ilia Malinin cannot prove anything in Prague. We all know he was dominant throughout the season. We all know also that he failed to win OGM nevertheless. Winning another Worlds title will not change anything in this respect. In fact, I am pretty sure he knows it, too. It was not just another competition for him, it was the title he wanted badly. Whatever happens in Prague, he will not win back OGM from Shaidorov, that's done for now. Next chance for redemption will be in 4 years in France.
Who knows who will be there and in what shape?

 

[yfan1]

Many things are beyond quite a lot of us, like how some people who care so much about the level of skating going on are all celebrating Shaidorov's victory online as if those concerns all vanished.

 

[yfan1]

Also, about Shaidorov's lack of funding, let's not pretend there isn't a skater called Dias Jirenbayev from the same country who is much better in the PCS aspects of skating. He of course deserves to lose to Shaidorov whenever they compete against each other, but as a PCS skater, yeah he is better. Shaidorov chose to go for all those quads, and capitalized on his talent with jumping like anyone sane would do. But it's not at all strictly due to lack of funds that he can't skate better. It's because HE chose to focus on going the way competitive skating has been going for a while now.

 

[freedomlover]

It's because HE chose to focus on going the way competitive skating has been going for a while now.

And is that not the same thing people have been complaining on for years now? While I don't like it either, he decided to play the game and not go against the system and not get rewarded for it (á la more transitions, more demanding choreography, less consistency on the jump elements).

I can't blame him.

 

[yfan1]

And is that not the same thing people have been complaining on for years now? While I don't like it either, he decided to play the game and not go against the system and not get rewarded for it (á la more transitions, more demanding choreography, less consistency on the jump elements).

I can't blame him.

Then it'd be good for all those people who have cared so much about overall skating when it comes to Malinin and others to, IDK, say something about it here as well. Which isn't happening, because people have been focusing on Ilia, his personality, and his karma.

Shaidorov's skating quality is the lowest of all OGMs under IJS, and is the would-be lowest of all OGM contenders here.

It would be lowest among all OGM contenders in 2022 - when we had multi quadsters and the 4 min long LP.

It would be lowest among all OGM contenders in 2018 - when we still had multi quadsters, even if 30 seconds extra in the LP.

That says something, at least to me.

 

[DancingCactus]

I find it a bit telling that people who were fine with Ilia not being a well rounded skater are now suddenly not fine with Shaidorov not being a well rounded skater.

They are the same type of skater: big jumps, not much skating.

I personally would like to see a system where the likes of Jun, Adam, Kevin, Selevko, Torgashev etc get rewarded more when they are clean because they have actual programs.

But under the current system Shaidorov won based on jump content, same as Ilia would have won based on jump content had he skated well.

 

[yfan1]

I find it a bit telling that people who were fine with Ilia not being a well rounded skater are now suddenly not fine with Shaidorov not being a well rounded skater.

Who? Me? I can assure you I find Malinin overscored, I even said so on the GPF thread as well as the quads thread. I don't even find his quads scored properly.

Y

Post in thread 'Should quads per program be limited to balance artistry?'

Dec 7, 2025

Ooooooo, interesting take. I mean, those where the things that should have gotten highlighted with the +5 -5 GOE system- height and distance are quantifyable as well- but then, if we held everyone's lutz to the standard of those two, not many would be getting +2 or +3s even. I have to agree that the way the system is set up now, there is no space for rewarding exceptional jumps any more than possible.

In essence, with the system set up like this, you will be rewarding consistency on quads, more than quality. You give equal credit to a Malinin 4Lz and a Jin/Kolyada 4Lz for...

• yfan1

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Y

Replay Lounge Post in thread '2025-26 Grand Prix Final'

Dec 13, 2025

I am definitely talking about artistry, and that should be the entire point of the component.

I disagree, and wish the interpretation component would be back to separate the technical aspect of composition from the artistic. However, let me explain why I kept asking you if you thought nothing else was wrong at all - I thought in this case Ilia's layout was too flawed from a composition aspect.

In the second half, as he's building towards the climax, he does his three combos. Superficially, it's fine - the music is getting more intense and exciting, and so he starts packing...

• yfan1

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It's far different online elsewhere, as well as seemingly here, when some who found Malinin overscored and lacking in artistry have nothing to say about Shaidorov's skating, and focus instead on Malinin's personality. Like on the GPF thread I linked as an example.