Ilia Malinin arrived at the 2026 Winter Olympics as the overwhelming favorite for gold in men’s figure skating. Instead, after two costly falls in Friday night’s free skate, the self-proclaimed “Quad God” finished a shocking eighth overall.
The 21-year-old American had built a five-point lead after Tuesday’s short program and was the final skater to take the ice. But moments before beginning his routine, Malinin said he was overwhelmed by nerves. He landed his opening quad flip, then bailed midair on his signature quad axel attempt. From there, the performance unraveled.
He managed a quad lutz but doubled a planned quad loop, fell on another quad lutz combination, and later crashed on his final jumping pass. When the music ended, Malinin stood at center ice shaking his head in disbelief.
“I blew it,” he said afterward. “That’s honestly the first thing that came to my mind.”
Malinin posted a free skate score of 156.33 — just 15th in the segment — for a total of 264.49 points, dropping him to eighth place and ending an unbeaten streak that dated back to 2023.
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov seized the opportunity, delivering a composed performance to win gold by more than 11 points. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama took silver, while compatriot Shun Sato earned bronze.
The upset unfolded in front of a high-profile audience that included Olympic legends Simone Biles and Nathan Chen.
Malinin acknowledged he had felt the weight of expectations throughout the Games. He previously cited “Olympic pressure” after mistakes in the team event short program, though he rebounded to help the United States secure team gold.
In the individual short program, he appeared composed, scoring 108.16 to take control of the competition. He skipped a final arena practice to relax and said he felt prepared heading into the free skate.
But when it mattered most, he said negative thoughts flooded his mind. “I definitely knew that I was prepared well enough,” Malinin said. “I just did not handle it.”
Fellow Americans Andrew Torgashev finished 12th, while Maxim Naumov placed 20th in his Olympic debut.
