2026 Olympics: Men's Free Skate

[4everchan]

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.

I doubt it.. he wasn't fabulous in the team event but he certainly had some impressive jumps. He got nervous... and couldn't find his jumps today.

 

[TallyT]

OK, I haven't had time to watch it yet (except for Malinin's disaster — ouch), but damn! That was a huge surprise!

I thought Gogolev's 10th place in the short was a phenomenal result for him, and never, never expected — knock me over with a feather — he would wind up 5th, second in the free and a point off the podium! So proud of him.

I am so happy for him too, after all the early hype and then problems he went through. He is a credit to Canada.

 

[Cindy1983]

Sorry posters, this is a duplicate post from the replay lounge! Delete if needed.

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.

That’s not as odd as it sounds. Although if you look at my very first comment I wrote that he does better when someone is nipping at his heels or skating mad. Flukes do happen. Although, his career has been charmed up to this point. His worst fear was probably having a genuinely bad skate, not the vaunted bad-for-him performance (Team short). Now he knows what that is. He has to truly rebound. (To read my initial comment go to page 101 or 102.)

 

[freedomlover]

Looking at this again and... the men who podiumed are 2,3,4 in the world standings. Even though Misha had a shaky season, it was always a possibility that with the tech, he would be up there.

 

[Dreamer57]

I have been offline until about 2 hours ago due to my modem quitting on me. I missed the entire Men's FS and frankly am so weary after chasing around town trying to get a new modem,
then tolerating multiple phone calls in order to get back online that I don't have time just now to read all these posts. I saw the results--congrats to all the medalists! And several more did great free programs from the looks of things. Just am wondering what happened to Ilia, and is he all right? I worry about him--having a bad skate can happen to the best of skaters, but---not THAT bad, unless injury. illness or boot/blade issues occurred.

Last night, it was my UPS battery backup that quit on me. Luckily I had a new, unused one so am using that--hopefully it'll keep working. I'm ready to tear my hair out over so many things going wrong at once which have been expensive to fix--won't mention the non PC related incidents which cost another $3,000 on to of the PC mess. But I have had it, am ill and worn down, and just plain too old for this kind of nonsense.

Don't think I have any way to watch the Men's now--I was watching skating thru the German channel using my VPN. To my knowledge all those events were/are live only. If anyone knows otherwise, could you please let me know?

Sorry for the length of this post--but I am concerned about Ilia and would appreciate some kind of response. Thank you.

I have discovery+ app which has access to replays.

 

[Dreamer57]

Btw the BBC website in the U.K. has posted these:

Mikhail Shaidorov FS

Kazakhstan's Shaidorov takes men's figure skating gold medal in shock upset

21-year old Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan takes home the men's figure skating gold medal in the biggest shock of the 2026 Winter Olympics so far, as heavy favourite Ilia Malinin of USA ends up finishing in eighth place after twice falling in his free skate routine.

www.bbc.co.uk

Ilia Malinin FS

Malinin falls twice as Kazakhstan's Shaidorov takes gold medal

USA's Ilia Malinin, the red-hot favourite for men's figure skating gold at Milan-Cortina 2026, falls twice as he misses out on a podium finish to give Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan the gold medal.

www.bbc.co.uk

The main article has comments, including frustration that Misha's free skate could not be viewed at all on British TV

 

[NewLook]

Listen, if nothing else matters to you other than watching someone go up and then come down, there are so many sports you would love. Have you seen the Snowboarding big air events? Seriously someone could actually die doing that, it’s way more entertaining than a 4A. You might also enjoy Ski Jumping. Or how about Summer sports? Have you seen the pole vault? If you think Malinin is some sort of God you should see Duplantis. Theres long and high jump too. Track and Field in general is really exhilarating, you should try it. You might also enjoy the diving events. They can get some pretty big air off those planks. They jump and come down and it’s over in 3 seconds. Then they judge it.

Figure skating is not that. That’s not how figure skating is judged.

Listen,i f you don't like quads, you can go to Disney on Ice. Don't go to Bolshoi. They jump there too.

Aren't Hanyu fans supposed to celebrate now? But they can't. That 4A hurt them for life till they die out.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

Listen,i f you don't like quads, you can go to Disney on Ice. Don't go to Bolshoi. They jump there too.

Aren't Hanyu fans supposed to celebrate now? But they can't. That 4A hurt them for life till they die out.

What are you talking about?

 

[Ares]

Hell no. He competed, landed his quads and did not melt down when it mattered. He’s the Olympic Champion in every sense.

And I’m not even a fan

Well, yeah. And the first half of his Free Skate looked majestic especially with that insane 3A-4T combination executed with such ease. But the last third or so with ugly choreography, skating on flats, slow spins and bizarre wailing muzak ... this didn't look like something befitting an Olympic Gold medallist. Despite his huge score, I thought he'd be 3rd in the best scenario. But underwhelming skate of Kagiyama + meltdown of Malinin was nothing I'd ever imagine. I mean both have been solid for so long. I think it was the pressure that did Ilia in & too many distractions. And likely Ilia felt he needed not to just win but to win with a gusto, landing every type of quads, making a history.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

The main article has comments, including frustration that Misha's free skate could not be viewed at all on British TV

There should have been some expectation that the reigning WSMist sitting in 5th could end up on the podium.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Getting old isn't for sissies, but as far as watching skating is concerned, retirement does have some advantages to recommend it.

Just saw this from el henry. I had been retired for three years when I saw Maddie Chock dance with Greg Z. in novice at 2007 Spokane Nats. I have nightmares about having a job. I reccommend retiring as soon as possible. I am sorry for Ilia but the murder of a figure skating coach in St Louis at a Starbucks drivethrough kind of put things into perspective. NBC opened with the Ilia story, the questionable judging in the ice dance, and the coach murder....
I am just thankful to still be above ground.

 

[TallyT]

Listen,i f you don't like quads, you can go to Disney on Ice. Don't go to Bolshoi. They jump there too.

Aren't Hanyu fans supposed to celebrate now? But they can't. That 4A hurt them for life till they die out.

{clears throat} Right....

Firstly, Hanyu fans are more concerned with the bloodbath at the Miyagi ticket office than on Milan ice.

Secondly, calling this poster a Hanyu fan simply because they don't care for jumpityjumpityjumpity is pretty silly given that Yuzu was a massive part of the vanguard in quads, has quite a few of the firsts in different jumps and combos, is still doing an insane number of quads and triples far more beautifully than pretty much everyone in Milan and as I said earlier now - still - has the only certified 4A in Olympic protocols.

Thirdly, every single man in the final flight is a Hanyu fan. Both Ilia and Mikhail will talk about him at the drop of a hat and Shun was wearing the necklet given to him by Hanyu.

And fourthly... {checks where I am, oh yes} wanting Olympic level skaters to be all round great is a Good Thing. And I very much doubt that want is confined to the fans of one skater even if he is GOAT.

(Sorry mods, I know you said don't bring up other skaters but I didn't, truly and for real, they did it first!!!)

 

[RatedPG]

That was a shocking free skate!!
I’m in disbelief in regards to Ilia’s free skate. Shocked!!

After he popped his 4A attempt, I was thinking please just keep it safe. Go for two 4T and a 4Lz and start adding combos. He could have still won silver if he didn’t screw up the final jumping pass and if he was able to do the 3A sequence.

Yuma was a disappointment too and the judges went easy on him regarding the rotation of his jumps. Thank goodness that performance wasn’t a gold medal performance. Perhaps if he had left out the 4F, he could have skated the rest of the performance better and won. But, I like the fact he is adding a 4th quad.

Congrats Mikhail!! Yes. Your artistry is awful and the last part shows his lack of skating skills. But, he really earned it and delivered a gold winning performance.

Cha could have won a silver or bronze had he just landed the 4T.

GoGo - that final 3Lo could have gotten you a bronze medal

The one who was robbed the most here though, was Petr Gumenik. I think he delivered the second best free skate of the night. That final 3Lo cost him. I was thinking he should have just gone for a normal 3T instead.

Everyone had an opportunity and I guess Shun was the lucky one. Shun was a worthy podium performance too I guess. He won the battle of millimetres.

 

[Arigato]

I lurk here a lot but I thought I would post. That was the worst men’s competition I have ever seen. Total train wreck. No one was really good and deserving of an Olympic medal

Shaidorov made history with his 3A+EU+4S at worlds 2025 being the only male to ever do it. Today, he is now the first male to do it on Olympic ice. The point score from it gave him a whopping 21.39 on the first element alone today. Part of being a great competitor is rising to the challenge under pressure - he did. Good for him. He won silver at Worlds 2025 because he didn't cave under pressure either. Winning isn't simply what jumps you do on the ice, it is having a superior state of mind.

Congrats to Mikhail.

He made that comment in the kiss and cry. Something like "If they had sent me last time this wouldn't have happened."

He started his diatribe with the word, Beijing by name. I was stunned at such a display of poor sportsmanship and the unwillingness to hold himself accountable. I was sympathetic until he blamed "they" for not sending him and clearly saying this would not have happened. Johnny Weir made it perfectly clear what was said which made it even worse. Other people had a rough day today and they didn't blame anyone else,

This was Shaidorov's first OLYG as well. Congrats again to Mikhail.

 

[cruzceleste]

Congrats to the medalists.


I can’t help but wonder if Ilia’s team might have let him down a bit. Maybe they assumed that after two years undefeated, the gold was practically guaranteed, and they let him handle too much press. I get that figure skating isn’t what it used to be, and the temptation to cash in on the Olympics is real, but it really does seem like it took a toll on him.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

What an absolutely shocking event. I can't remember the last time I experienced something like this. I absolutely believe that Mikhail deserved the win due to his skate, but it pains me greatly to mention his program in the same breath as Olympic gold medal. That is probably the hardest part of this for me to swallow, LOL.

I am very sad for Ilia because although he has never been my favorite, you cannot deny that he has been without question the dominant and most innovative and influential skater in the last quadrennial. And I say that as a huge Yuma fan. And that is probably the understatement of the century without question I think this will be the biggest upset of this Olympics I cannot imagine anything topping it.

And crazy to think that Gogolev would Place second in the free skate, fifth overall, and ironically, receive higher PCS scores for choreography than the gold medalist, lol. Less than two points out of a metal? Wow. Who would have ever predicted that ahead of time?! I think the judging and marks were Fair all throughout, and though I'm Canadian I actually think he was a tiny bit overmarked - though I'm fine with the result.

Hi, I’m American and I can assure you that Stephen was actually under marked for what he put out there today. He has improved his spins and choreography tremendously. His step sequence was one of the best of the entire night. On top of the required turns to achieve the highest level, it was packed full of difficult transitions and movements which he executed flawlessly to the music. His spins were very very good and he carried the performance level through the entire duration of the program. He never ran out of energy or stopped emoting. His choreography was intentional. He, his team, and Skate Canada should be very proud.

Shaidorov deserved his win there’s no question, he was the best all around athlete, but Stephen received higher component scores because he was very much better on that side of the sport.

 

[crazydreamer]

What a horribly dissatisfying event. In other circumstances I would feel bad for Ilia, Yuma, Adam, Kevin, etc., but for ALL of them to implode like that? It’s frankly embarrassing for all of them and for the sport. Like I honestly think everyone involved in men’s skating should be ashamed of themselves. It makes me think there is something seriously wrong with scoring system—it is not incentivizing good skating, it is incentivizing luck of the splatfest. There needs to be some serious soul searching among male skaters, coaches, judges, and regulators.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

What a horribly dissatisfying event. In other circumstances I would feel bad for Ilia, Yuma, Adam, Kevin, etc., but for ALL of them to implode like that? It’s frankly embarrassing for all of them and for the sport. It makes me think there is something seriously wrong with scoring system—it is not incentivizing good skating, it is incentivizing luck of the splatfest. There needs to be some serious soul searching among male skaters, coaches, judges, and regulators.

It was really weird because most of the men's team programs, and a lot of the short programs a few nights ago, were excellent.

 

[moonvine]

Welcome. Post long and often. Adopt some skaters (not mine though). Have a blast.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

This is men’s figure skating now. It happens literally all the time. The GP on the whole was badly skated (Skate America anyone) and Europeans was a flaming dumpster fire. (You think it can’t get any worse than today….I can assure you it has been worse).

That is why I say it’s demoralizing. The winners are end to end jumpers because it easier to jump all of those quads without anything in between holding you back. The ones that actually try choreography, transitions, and spend their energy on good spins fall apart because that’s actually HARD to do when they also have to jump quads.

This is why Nathan, Hanyu, and Shoma are GOATS but unfortunately they’re retired and we are left with whatever this is.