Huge shock as Ilia Malinin fails to medal after falling twice and missing quad axle attempt - 'I blew it'

Ilia Malinin failed to claim gold in the men's free skate after a shock display that saw him fall over twice on the ice. USA's Malinin was tipped to win the event but ended up in eighth place as Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov claimed gold, with Japan duo Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato claiming silver and bronze respectively. Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+.

Ilia Malinin missed out on a medal in the men's free skating event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games after a dramatic, error-filled display.

The 21-year-old American - widely considered the best figure skater of his generation - carried a five-point cushion into the free skate after impressing in the short program.

Skating last, Malinin looked the favourite to win gold after several of his rivals slipped up.

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But Malinin then fell twice and popped three jumps, including an attempted quadruple axel, and appeared close to tears by the time he finished.

There were gasps in the arena when the scores were announced and Malinin was placed in eighth, with Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov taking the gold ahead of Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama.

"I blew it," Malinin told NBC afterwards.

"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 programme, so confident with everything. I have no words really."

"I was not expecting that. I felt so ready getting on that ice. Maybe I was too confident it was going to go well."

In the lead-up to the Games, the consensus was clear: if Malinin skated cleanly, the title was his.

'I'm speechless' - Malinin 'in shock' after Olympic difficulties

Video credit: TNT Sports

That was still the case ahead of his routine, which was the last of the evening, as none of his rivals produced high enough scores to soar too far ahead.

But Malinin didn't produce his best and botched several jumps as he scored just 156.33.

He finished on a combined 264.49, well below the winning score of 291.58 from Shaidorov.

"I think all of this pressure, all of the media, and just being the Olympic gold hopeful was a lot… too much to handle," he said.

"It's not a pleasant feeling. Honestly, I'm still trying to understand what happened specifically. But it's done; I can't change the outcome. My life has been through a lot of ups and downs.

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"Before getting into my starting pose, those experiences, memories and thoughts and pressure, it just felt so overwhelming. So honestly, I didn't really know how to handle it in that moment."

Malinin was gracious in defeat, congratulating Shaidorov and saying "you deserve it".

Malinin did win gold in the team event as his routine helped USA finish ahead of Japan.

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