What had seemed all but certain a glittering Olympic gold medal for the USA’s rising figure skating star instead unraveled in a single breathtaking performance.
Ilia Malinin, the 21-year-old American widely known as the “Quad God,” entered Friday night’s men’s free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics holding a firm lead. But instead of sealing his dominant season with Olympic glory, he endured one of the most stunning collapses the sport has seen.
From the outset, Malinin’s routine expected to be near-flawless began to slip. Falls and missteps piled up in a night when nerves overshadowed technique, and routine elements that had long been his strength betrayed him instead. As the final note faded, so, too, did his medal hopes.
When the scores came in, Malinin stood in eighth place with 264.49 points, well off the podium and marking his first loss since November 2023. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, seizing his moment, claimed gold in a historic win for his country, while Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato took silver and bronze.
Moments after the result, Malinin spoke to NBC with the raw honesty that has endeared him to fans worldwide. “I blew it,” he said. “That’s honestly the first thing that came to my mind. There’s no way that just happened. I was preparing the whole season, I felt so confident with my programs, so confident with everything. That happened, I have no words, honestly.”
Struggling to process a performance that defied expectation, Malinin reflected on the Olympic experience’s unique pressures. “I was not expecting that … I just felt ready … maybe I was too confident,” he said, grappling with the gap between anticipation and reality.
For now, the rink that was meant to be a coronation stage has become a reminder of sport’s unpredictability and of how even the surest favorites can falter under the brightest lights.
