Two falls on ice dash US ‘Quad God’ Ilia Malinin’s Olympic gold hopes

MILAN, ITALY: Ilia Malinin’s bid for Olympic gold unraveled as the heavy favorite fell twice during his free skate, tumbling out of medal contention at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics games.

The 21-year-old American star, known as the 'Quad God' for his record-setting jumps, finished a shocking eighth after entering the competition widely expected to claim the top spot on the podium.

Ilia Malinin close to tears after falling twice at the Winter Olympic Games

Ilia Malinin had been in control earlier in the week, dominating the short program with a leading score of 108.16 and holding a cushion of more than five points heading into the free skate. But Friday brought a completely different outcome.

Competing in his first Olympics, the 21-year-old American, the only skater ever to land a quadruple axel, struggled under the spotlight. The quad axel, a jump that requires four and a half rotations in the air before landing backward, was listed in his planned routine but never attempted. Instead, he performed only a single axel in the final, drawing disappointed reactions from the crowd.

Then came the shock. Attempting a quad lutz, Malinin fell hard to the ice in a moment few saw coming. Even more surprisingly, he fell again just two elements later. By the end of the program, he grabbed his hair and bent over with his hands on his knees. Skating off the ice, he shook his head, close to tears, the 'Quad God' suddenly looking human.

Despite the setback, Malinin’s Games were not without success. He won gold in the team event earlier in the competition. At just 21 years old, with nine international victories already in his career, he still has plenty of time to bounce back and reshape his Olympic story.

Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov secures his first gold medal of the Winter Games

The unexpected performance of Ilia Malinin opened the door for Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov to win his country’s first gold medal of the Winter Games.

As Malinin processed what had happened, Shaidorov skated a victory lap wearing the gold medal many had predicted would belong to the American. Over the arena speakers played Coldplay’s 'Viva La Vida,' beginning with the lyrics, “I used to rule the world,” adding to the dramatic moment.

“Honestly, I still haven’t been able to process what just happened,” Malinin said afterward. He explained, "I mean, going into this competition, I felt really good this whole day. Feeling really solid. I just thought that all I needed to do was trust the process that I’ve always been doing. “But it’s not like any other competition. It’s the Olympics." 

He added, "And I think people (don’t) realize the pressure and the nerves that actually happen from the inside. So it was really just something that overwhelmed me, and I just felt like just I had no control."

Shaidorov, also 21, delivered the best performance of his career, scoring 291.58 points. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama won silver for the second straight Olympics, and teammate Shun Sato took bronze. Malinin, a two-time world champion, finished eighth with 264.49 points, his lowest total in nearly four years — ending a winning streak that had lasted more than two years. He later admitted he may have been too confident heading into the event.

"Honestly, yeah, I was not expecting that. I felt going into this competition I was so ready. I just felt ready going on that ice. I think maybe that might have been the reason, because I was too confident it was going to go well.”