US favorite Ilia Malinin falls to stunning eighth in men’s figure skating

Field Level Media|published: Fri 13th February, 17:43 2026

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Men Single Skating - Free Skating - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 13, 2026. Ilia Malinin of United States reacts after his performance during the Free Skating portion of the competition.

MILAN -- Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov emerged as the shock winner of the men's figure skating gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Friday as heavy favorite Ilia Malinin of the United States suffered multiple falls in a stunning upset.

Japan's Yuma Kagiyama took silver and countryman Shun Sato captured bronze on a night when many top skaters struggled to execute their jumps.

"I blew it," Malinin told NBC after finishing a shocking eighth.

"That's honestly the first thing that came to my mind. There's no way that just happened. I was preparing the whole season and was so confident in my program, so confident with everything. I have no words really."

--Reuters, special to Field Level Media

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