Short program
The short program was held on Tuesday, 10 February. Ilia Malinin of the United States finished in first place with a score of 108.16, successfully performing a quadruple flip and a quadruple Lutz-triple toe loop jump combination. [17] Speaking of his nerves competing earlier in the team event, Malinin said, "I did not think it would be that heavy. I thought that I could come into this like any other competition, but honestly I definitely underestimated it." [18] Upon completion of his required jump elements, Malinin delivered his signature "raspberry twist" and backflip. [18] 2022 silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan finished in second place, not quite as good as he had been when he competed in the short program component of the team event. Adam Siao Him Fa of France finished in third place. [17] Maxim Naumov of the United States delivered what Jordan Mendoza of USA Today described as "one of his best performances" in his Olympic debut, [19] setting a new season-best score of 85.65. While awaiting his scores in the kiss-and-cry, Naumov held up a photograph of his late parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, who died in the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 in January 2025. Naumov described feeling his parents' presence with him on the ice: "Usually I'm a little jittery and kind of rushed a little bit," he said. "I felt none of that here. The calm, the stillness, the confidence. I tried to lean as much into that as I possibly could." [19]
Free skating
In what The New York Times called "one of the biggest upsets in figure skating history", [21] Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won the gold medal in the men's event after Ilia Malinin of the United States suffered a series of errors that led to him finishing in eighth place. This was the first medal win for a Kazakh athlete at the 2026 Games, and the first gold medal for Kazakhstan at the Winter Olympics since 1994. Shaidorov had finished in fifth place after the short program, but rallied back in the free skate, scoring over ten points more than his nearest competitor and setting a new personal best with an overall score of 291.58. [21] Shaidorov was the first skater to successfully perform a quadruple jump as the second element in a jump combination, a feat he accomplished at the 2024 Grand Prix de France. [22] He opened his Olympic free skate with a triple Axel-Euler-quadruple Salchow, and what followed was nearly flawless. After Malinin received his scores and it was announced that Shaidorov had won the gold medal, Malinin hugged and congratulated him. "I watched him skate from the locker room and I’m just so proud of him," Malinin said afterward. "We’re all in this sport together, and we’re there for each other. That’s what makes this sport special. I think people forget that sometimes. They only see us competing and assume we’re rivals without good relationships. But it’s actually the opposite. There’s joy, motivation, encouragement; we’re like a big family." [21]
Shaidorov is only the second Kazakh skater to win a medal at the Winter Olympics. Denis Ten – who was a source of inspiration for Shaidorov – won the bronze medal in 2014. "It would have probably meant a lot to Denis, because he paved the road for us," Shaidorov stated. [23] Both Ten, who was murdered in 2018, and Shaidorov have advocated for growing the sport of figure skating in Kazakhstan. "It means a lot for me and for my country because I really want to see our sport to grow in Kazakhstan," he continued. "I will do everything to make that happen and I hope that little kids will sign up for this sport, that there will be conditions that encourage that, and that this medal will bring a lot of motivation to young athletes who will now know that there are no limits at all." [23]
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, who won the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics, won the silver medal here as well despite falling on his quadruple flip. "I’ve felt great since arriving for the Olympics," Kagiyama said. "I went into the free today with high hopes, but the nerves got to me, I have to admit. I threw in the quad flip and it’s a little frustrating with the mistake." [23] Shun Sato, also of Japan, won the bronze medal. "Honestly, I can’t believe it," Sato said. "It still hasn’t sunk in at all, but I’m so glad I never gave up and put all the work in up to this point. After the short program, I didn’t think I had a chance, but I didn’t want to give in and held on to hope. And I’m so happy that led to a place on the podium in the end." [23]
For Ilia Malinin, a series of mistakes led to him finishing fifteenth in the free skate, and eighth overall. Malinin struggled to maintain his composure upon leaving the ice, shaking his head and on the verge of tears. [24] He was unable to perform his signature quadruple Axel, his planned quadruple loop became a double loop, and he fell on both his quadruple Lutz and his planned quadruple Salchow, which became a double. His loss in Milan ended a streak of twelve consecutive wins stretching back to November 2023. "All of this pressure, all of the media, and just being the Olympic gold hopeful was too much to handle," Malinin stated afterward. [23] Malinin's final score of 264.49, which was his worst score in nearly four years. "He never messes up," observed Daniel Grassl of Italy, "so obviously we’re all a little surprised by how it went." [25]
