Milan Cortina 2026: Shaidorov Wins Gold as Ilia Malinin Falls Twice

Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won gold in the men’s figure skating event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics after favourite Ilia Malinin fell twice and finished eighth.

In a dramatic free skate, five of the final six athletes suffered falls. Shaidorov was the only skater in the final group to deliver a clean routine.

The 21 year old secured Kazakhstan’s first Winter Olympic gold medal in 32 years.

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan took silver despite falling on a quad flip. Bronze went to compatriot Shun Sato.

Malinin, 21, arrived at the Games as the leading contender for gold. Known as the Quad God, he is the only skater to have landed a quadruple axel in competition.

In the free skate final, Malinin did not attempt the quad axel. Though it was listed in his planned elements, he performed only a single axel. He also fell attempting a quad lutz and fell again two elements later.

Malinin’s free skate scored 156.33 points. It was the 15th best score of the night and more than 40 points behind Shaidorov.

Earlier in the Games, Malinin had faced criticism for his team event performances. He was outscored by Kagiyama in the short program and made errors in the free skate.

His team later moved him out of the Olympic village to train in Bergamo before the men’s individual event. In the short program, he finished five points clear of the field.

Shaidorov maintained composure in the final. After a slight slip on a quad lutz, he completed two clean quad techniques and held his lead.

This is Kazakhstan’s first Winter Olympic gold medal since the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics, when Vladimir Smirnov won the men’s 50km cross country skiing event.

After the scores were announced, Malinin congratulated Shaidorov.