US EditionIlia Malinin Misses Olympic Podium in Men's Free Skate
Ilia Malinin lost nearly 72 points due to two falls in the free skate, allowing Mikhail Shaidrov to win Kazakhstan's first Winter Olympic figure skating gold.
- On Friday, Mikhail Shaidorov captured the men's Olympic gold at Milano Ice Arena with a career-best 291.58 points, while Ilia Malinin fell to eighth with 264.49.
- Having posted 108.16 in Thursday's short program, Malinin, the favorite, had teased plans to attempt the quad axel, a 4 1/2-revolution jump.
- He scored 156.33 in the free skate, including two falls, while Shaidorov posted 198.64, making him the leader with a total of 291.58.
- The upset denied Team USA an expected individual gold and left Ilia Malinin distraught after ending his two-plus-year unbeaten streak since November 2023.
- Malinin told NBC, 'I blew it,' saying he can't yet process the result and that it will motivate him for future competitions.
138 Articles
138 Articles
The exceptional figure skater Ilia Malinin, who secured the gold medal for the United States last Sunday with what many consider to be the best performance in the history of the Winter Olympics, completely burned out in Friday's free skate and ended up in a modest eighth place with two falls.
The American figure skater admitted that she couldn't handle the pressure.
Everything was ready for Ilia Malinin, undefeated since 2023, to write an unforgettable story in the figure skating free program and spice up his performance with a quadruple Axel, but a nightmare followed and in the end only 8th place.
Even Ilia Malinin Is Mortal
Before Ilia Malinin had his disastrous free skate to lose gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics, there was Yuma Kagiyama—who skated a near-perfect short program only to underperform in his free skate on three out of his four quadruple jumps. And before Kagiyama had his disastrous free skate to, seemingly, lose silver, there was Adam Siao Him Fa—who had a brilliant short program only to miss three of his four quadruple jumps, dropping him all the way …
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