In a dramatic turn of events at the Winter Olympics, American figure skater Ilia Malinin’s pursuit of gold ended in disappointment as he stumbled repeatedly during the men’s single skating free skate final on Friday night. This unexpected series of falls marked one of the most startling moments of the Games.
Known affectionately as the ‘Quad God’ for his extraordinary ability to execute quadruple jumps, the 21-year-old was widely anticipated to claim the Olympic title. His primary challenger was expected to be Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama. However, the evening took a devastating turn for Malinin, who was left visibly emotional after a night that will be remembered as one of the most challenging in his career. The Milano Ice Arena, filled with a star-studded audience, fell into a hushed silence as the events unfolded.
The night saw Malinin plummet from a seemingly assured gold medal position to a surprising eighth place, marking one of the most shocking declines in the history of Winter Olympic figure skating.
With the skaters preceding him, including Kagiyama, faltering in their performances, the path to victory had seemed straightforward for Malinin. Having secured a comfortable lead after the short program, he needed only to deliver a passable performance to add an individual gold to the team event gold he had already clinched.
After the two skaters in front of him, including Kagiyama, struggled, the path to gold had appeared to be clear for Malinin.
Malinin, who led by a comfortable margin after the short program, merely had to deliver a mediocre performance to add individual gold to the gold medal he won in the team event.
US skating sensation Ilia Malinin’s quest for Olympic gold crashed and burned on Friday night
The 21-year-old fought back tears as he left the ice following a shocking collapse
The American fell multiple times throughout his free skate program in the men’s single skating
But he faltered multiple times throughout his program. First, he bailed out of the highly anticipated planned quad axel – which would have been the first in Olympic history – and downgraded it to a mere single axel.
And it only went downhill from there.
Malinin only doubled a planned quad loop, throwing his timing off. He fell on a quad lutz, preventing him from doing the second half of the quad lutz-triple toe loop combination that would have earned him big points. And in his final jumping pass, which was supposed to be a high-scoring quad salchow-triple axel, Malinin only could muster a double salchow – and he fell on that.
By the time the music stopped, Malinin was left trying to mask the sorrow for a crowd that included Nathan Chen, the 2022 Olympic champion; seven-time Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles; actor Jeff Goldblum and his wife, Emilie.
‘I blew it,’ Malinin said. ‘That’s honestly the first thing that came to my mind.’
Malinin finished with a score of 264.49, ending a two-plus-year unbeaten streak that spanned 14 full competitions, including the past two world championships that he won with ease.
But it wasn’t his Japanese rival Kagiyama – the last man to beat Malinin – who walked away with the gold medal, either.
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, who was somewhat of an underdog, triumphed with a score of 291.58 to give his nation its first medal of the Winter Games.
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov (middle) claimed gold, Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (left) won silver, while his compatriot Shun Sato (right) earned bronze
Malinin pushed back onto his blades after falling during his free skate program
He appeared distraught as he left the ice in front of a stunned, quiet crown in Milan
US Olympic gymnastic legend watched on from the stands of the Milano Ice Skating Arena
Meanwhile, Kagiyama took silver despite tumbles of his own, and his compatriot Shun Sato won bronze.
‘Honestly, yeah, I was not expecting that,’ Malinin said. ‘I felt going into this competition I was so ready. I just felt ready going on that ice. I think maybe that might have been the reason, is I was too confident it was going to go well.’
Malinin had taken a five-point lead over Kagiyama and Adam Siao Him Fa of France in the individual short program on Tuesday night.
But what followed in the free skate on Friday was a performance that might well haunt Malinin for the rest of his career.
