Topic

Malinin falters, Shaidorov claims gold

11h

Ilia Malinin, the heavy favorite in men's Olympic figure skating, faltered in his free skate at the Milan Games, giving up gold to Kazakhstan's Shaidorov after multiple errors.

5%
Just watched the men’s free skate and I could not be happier for Misha or sadder for Ilia. ⛸️
February 15, 2026 at 1:31 AM
18%
According to Sky sports Italy Grassl considered not competing in the men's figure skating long programme in view of severe gastrointestinal problems. He spoke of "food poisoning". The event was marred by many errors, including the shocker defeat of superstar I. Malinin
February 14, 2026 at 11:17 PM
3%
11%
The other angle in the story was the opinion among skating fans like myself that only a perfect Kagiyama, or a charging Sato, could deny a less than perfect Malinin. No one saw Shaidorov coming. He wasn’t supposed to be the story. Yet somehow, the skating gods aligned perfectly for him.
February 14, 2026 at 3:29 AM
2%
Ha ha ha holy shit, Ilia finished *15th* in the free skate itself
February 14, 2026 at 12:08 AM
2%
So

Mikhail Shaidorov, who just won the Olympics, has thereby assured a spot in the exhibition gala

He skates his exhibition program..... in a giant panda costume youtu.be/xuMte7aJR58?...
Mikhail SHAIDOROV KAZ - grand prix final exhibition gala 2024
YouTube video by cassandra
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 12:00 AM