2026 Winter Olympics: Mikhail Shaidorov wins men's figure skating gold as 'Quad God' Ilia Malinin crumbles
Milan-Cortina — In one of the most dramatic turns in recent Olympic figure skating history, Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan skated a flawless free program to claim gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics while the expected favorite, Ilia Malinin of the United States, suffered a catastrophic collapse and finished eighth. Shaidorov’s victory marks Kazakhstan’s first Winter Olympic gold in 32 years.
Shaidorov skates clean to historic victory
Shaidorov delivered a composed, high-quality free skate that proved decisive in an evening when errors became commonplace. He was the only skater among the final six competitors to complete his program without falls, converting technical difficulty into consistent scores. His free skate total vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard, ending with a commanding technical score advantage that underscored the gap created by rivals’ mistakes.
Malinin’s meltdown unfolds
Ilia Malinin entered the free skate carrying the sport’s weight of expectation, but the contest unraveled within minutes of his performance. Skating at 4: 48 p. m. ET, the 21-year-old — nicknamed the ‘Quad God’ for being the only man to land a quadruple axel in competition — failed to include that signature jump and instead began to fall behind the program’s planned scoring structure. He fell on a quad lutz and then fell again shortly after, producing a cascade of lost base value and mounting deductions. By the end of his skate he was visibly distraught, clutching his head as he left the ice.
Japan takes silver and bronze
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan earned silver after a strong performance despite a fall on a quad flip that cost him points, while team-mate Shun Sato captured bronze. Both skaters managed to accumulate enough clean elements and component scores to capitalize on the night’s instability and secure places on the podium. The result underlines Japan’s continued depth in men’s skating and confirms Kagiyama and Sato as major forces at this Games.
Technical math doomed the favorite
The evening served as a reminder of how ruthlessly precise modern figure skating scoring can be. Once Malinin’s opening elements failed to land as intended, the built-in architecture of his program — designed around several high-value quad combinations — broke down. Missed rotations, downgraded jumps and falls quickly eroded the base value that carries elite programs, forcing Malinin into risk management rather than control. By contrast, Shaidorov preserved his program’s base value with clean execution and therefore converted difficulty into points rather than losses.
Aftermath and implications for men’s skating
The outcome reshapes the narrative of men’s competition at these Games. Malinin’s fall from the top spot is startling given his long run of dominance and world titles, and it highlights the thin margin between technical ambition and the peril of overreach. For Shaidorov and Kazakhstan, the gold is historic and will be remembered not only for the upset but for the composure that produced it. The podium results also underscore that clean, well-executed programs can still triumph over greater but unreliable technical risk.
As the skating community digests the result, attention will turn to how leading contenders regroup and recalibrate their strategies for the remainder of the season. For now, the Milan-Cortina arena witnessed an Olympic night that will be replayed and analyzed for years — a reminder that in sport, certainty can evaporate in a matter of seconds.
