Ilia Malinin seals gold for Team USA in Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics figure skating team event as Japan beaten into second

Ilia Malinin was the Team USA hero as his routine in the men's free skate portion of the figure skating team event was enough to secure gold for his country at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. Japan were narrowly beaten into second place and took home silver, while there was joy for the host nation Italy, who claimed bronze. Watch the Olympic Winter Games on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Ilia Malinin put on a spectacular display to seal gold for Team USA in the figure skating team event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

The 21-year-old's routine on the third day of competition was enough to top the podium ahead of Japan as he scored 200.03 for his free skate, which encapsulated five quadruple jumps.

Shun Sato, while impressive, did not quite do enough as his nation missed out by a single point. Italy's Matteo Rizzo took third place and an emotional bronze medal for the host nation.

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Malinin and Sato were essentially in a head-to-head battle to finish a dramatic night in Milan, and there were concerns for Team USA when a couple of mistakes crept into the American's routine.

However, the 21-year-old is known for his difficult routines. Dubbed the 'Quad God', his two extra quad jumps over Japanese rival Sato meant the slight errors went unpunished, as Team USA celebrated gold.

TNT Sports expert Mark Hanretty analysed the performance in the studio, saying: "The thing with Ilia Malinin, the difficulty that he uses in his planned program content… his level of difficulty, renowned as the 'Quad God', he is so comfortable with quadruple jumps, that his base value is much higher than most [of his rivals].

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Video credit: TNT Sports

"So even when he makes a mistake, like he did today, his ultimate value even with that subtraction is higher than the others.

"That said, he didn’t give us his most difficult content. He didn’t give us the quad axel, which he’s made history with. I assume he didn’t use it today because he was hoping to deliver the clean skate and make a comfortable win."

Hanretty said the errors in Sunday's display will make for intriguing preparation ahead of Tuesday's individual short program event, as Malinin prepares to take to the ice again with hotly-tipped rival Yuma Kagiyama looking to pip him to gold.

"He managed on this occasion to win, but when it comes to the individual event and he’s up against Yuma Kagiyama, then he will need to either skate pristinely, cleanly with what he did today, or include that more difficult content," Hanretty said. "It will be interesting to see how this affects his preparation for the individual event."

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Video credit: TNT Sports

Team USA's Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea opened the team event by finishing fourth, narrowly finishing above Canada to clock a crucial point as Japan topped the pairs section.

Amber Glenn then came third in the women's individual segment, with Japan's Kaori Sakamoto winning to put her nation in contention for gold.

But Malinin secured the spoils for Team USA to win his nation's second gold of the Winter Olympics thus far.

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