(Photo: FOX)
MILAN, Italy — February 13, 2026 — In one of the most stunning upsets of the 2026 Winter Games, heavy favorite Ilia Malinin finished off the podium in eighth place following a disastrous men’s free skate. Despite winning the short program earlier in the week with a massive score of 108.16, the “Quad God” struggled under the weight of expectations.
Malinin’s free skate was uncharacteristically shaky, featuring two falls and several “popped” jumps, including his signature quadruple Axel. While he secured a gold medal in the Team Event earlier in the week, his individual quest ended with a total score of 264.49. The individual gold was claimed by Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, who delivered a historic performance to shock the world.
The Quad God: Malinin is the first and only skater to ever land a quadruple Axel in competition. This jump requires four-and-a-half rotations in the air and is considered the most difficult move in figure skating history.
Did You Know? Figure skating is one of the few sports where the “Short Program” and “Free Skate” are weighted differently. While Malinin was nearly perfect in the short program (which requires specific mandatory elements), his mistakes in the longer free skate (which allows for more creativity and higher-scoring jumps) proved too costly to overcome.