Shaidorov shocks rivals to capture gold as 'Quad God' Malinin crumbles

Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov emerged as the shock winner of the men's competition at the Milano Cortina Games on Friday as heavy favourite Ilia Malinin's free programme fell apart and he finished out of the medals in one of Olympic figure skating's biggest upsets.

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

Malinin had been expected to pack in seven quadruple jumps, including the quad Axel which only he has landed in competition, but the American's display unravelled spectacularly as he made one mistake after another.

From the moment he turned an expected quad Axel into a single Axel, Malinin appeared to be in freefall as he made two crash landings onto the ice and ended up executing only three quads cleanly.

NIGHTMARE FOR MALININ

He looked absolutely distraught by the end of his free skate and kept shaking his head, scarcely believing the nightmare he had just endured on the biggest stage for his sport.

Having entered the final day of the men's competition with a lead of over five points from Tuesday's short programme, Friday's score of 156.33 was over 80 points short of his personal best of 238.24 and left him languishing in 15th place in the free skate segment.

The skater who had regularly obliterated his competition in the run-up to his first Games, ended up eighth overall with a total of 264.49 points, while Shaidorov was also left shaking his head in disbelief after triumphing with 291.58.

Malinin said the pressure of being the gold-medal favourite and the enormous media attention that came with it was "too much to handle."

"I'm trying to understand what happened," Malinin, whose performance helped the U.S. to win the team gold last weekend, told reporters.

"But I know that it's done. I can't change the outcome."

Shaidorov, who like Malinin is aged 21 and known for his technical ability, fell on his back in ecstasy on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena after delivering a personal best, but few could have foreseen what was to come since all of the main medal contenders had yet to skate.

Frenchman Adam Siao Him Fa, who entered the free skate in third place, struggled mightily, and Kagiyama and Soto also failed to live up to their usual standards.

Their errors appeared to have set the stage for two-time world champion Malinin to cruise to the title, especially since he had won 14 competitions in a row dating back to 2023.

But it was not to be.

STARS ALIGN FOR SHAIDOROV

Shaidorov, the 2025 world silver medallist, began the night in fifth place but immediately earned big points with a stunning opening triple Axel-quad Salchow combination.

"It was important for me to enjoy what I was doing and show good skating, show what I learned throughout the years," he said.

"My first combination is my signature move and unfortunately for several competitions, I couldn't really do it. But tonight the stars aligned."

Shaidorov called Malinin, whose multiple‑quad programmes have earned him the nickname "Quad God," key to growing the sport's fanbase.

"I was rooting for him and he's a very important athlete for figure skating, but ice is slippery," Shaidorov said.

"I told him that it was unbelievable to be sharing the same ice with him."

WORLD OF PRESSURE

Kagiyama, who also won silver in Beijing four years ago, said he was relieved to have won a medal after what he called a disappointing performance, and said the bright lights must have been too much for his American rival.

"The whole world was expecting him to win at these Olympics, and I imagine that must have been an immeasurable amount of pressure and tension for him," he said.

"I'm sure he must be incredibly disappointed. But I think it's amazing that he managed to complete four performances in his first Olympics," he said, referring to Malinin's two performances in the team event and two in singles.

Malinin said he was happy for Shaidorov, whose medal is Kazakhstan's first of the Games.

"I went up to him and I congratulated him because watching him skate, I watched him in the locker room, and we're just so proud of him," he said.

"That's what's so special about the sport as well, is everyone has each other's support.

"I feel like we're all a big, huge figure skating family. And I think people forget that when you know they see us competing against each other."