Malinin Falls as Shaidorov Wins Olympic Men’s Title
Ilia Malinin stumbled in the free skate and finished eighth, while Mikhail Shaidorov won gold with 291.58 points after landing five quadruple jumps.
NBC NewsFigure skating world shocked by Ilia Malinin’s Olympic performance
Chicago TribuneAfter ‘Olympic curse’ hits Ilia Malinin in his free skate, the ‘Quad god’ sets his sights on future
TIME MagazineIlia Malinin Misses the Podium in Stunning Olympic Loss
CBS NewsIlia Malinin misses Olympic medal after falling in free skate, finishes in 8th place
Overview
Ilia Malinin fell multiple times in the men's free skate and finished eighth, while Mikhail Shaidorov won gold with a career-best 291.58 points after landing five quadruple jumps.
Malinin entered the free skate with a five-point lead after scoring 108.16 in the short program and was widely expected to secure individual Olympic gold.
Malinin said "I blew it" and congratulated Shaidorov, while peers and commentators including Nathan Chen, Scott Hamilton and Tara Lipinski described the result as shocking and tied it to Olympic pressure.
Malinin finished with 264.49 points, ending a two-plus-year, 14-competition unbeaten streak; Yuma Kagiyama earned silver and Shun Sato bronze, and Shaidorov's gold was Kazakhstan's first Winter Olympic gold since Lillehammer 1994.
Malinin said he will regroup and work on managing pressure, and coaches and teammates described the result as a reminder of the unique pressures of Olympic competition.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame Malinin’s performance as a dramatic, mental-collapse upset — using loaded terms ('shocked', 'coronation', 'funeral'), foregrounding commentators' emotive reactions and Malinin’s own admissions about pressure, and highlighting crowd silence and celebrity watchers. Technical explanations (ice conditions, equipment) are mentioned but marginalized, shaping a narrative of personal failure rather than technical causation.
FAQ
Malinin scored 108.16 in the short program, leading by five points, but scored 156.33 in the free skate after multiple falls and errors, finishing 15th in that segment with a total of 264.49 points.
Shaidorov, from Kazakhstan, scored 198.64 in the free skate with five quadruple jumps including a triple Axel-half loop-quad Salchow, achieving a career-best total of 291.58 points after placing fifth in the short program.
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan won silver, and Shun Sato of Japan won bronze.
Shaidorov's gold is Kazakhstan's first Winter Olympic gold since Lillehammer 1994.
Malinin said 'I blew it,' attributed it to Olympic pressure and media attention being 'too much to handle,' and plans to regroup and work on managing pressure.
