U.S. figure skating star Ilia Malinin came into the 2026 Winter Olympics with sky-high expectations, but a catastrophic free skate performance cost him not just a gold medal in the men's figure skating competition but a podium appearance in general.
Malinin came into Friday's free skate with a five-point advantage thanks to a terrific short program performance. And after his top competitor -- Japan's Yuma Kagiyama -- struggled through his free skate, Malinin's routine figured to be an Olympic coronation of figure skating's biggest star.
Instead, it became a four-minute long train wreck that ended with a shocking eighth place finish for Malinin. Malinin landed his first jump and looked strong, but he bailed twice in his next three jumps, turning quads into a single and a double, scrubbing away a sizable portion of his lead.
At that point, he needed to be mistake-free to win the gold. Instead, things spiraled out of control for the 21-year-old. He fell twice, as the weight of the Olympic pressure proved too much to overcome. As his routine ended, Malinin looked shell-shocked at center ice and put his head in his hands.
"I blew it. That's honestly the first thing that came to my mind was, there's no way that just happened," Malinin said in an interview after. "I was preparing the whole season, I felt so confident with my program and so confident with everything, and to go out and have that happen, I have no words, honestly."
Malinin noted there wasn't anything physical that caused his struggles on the Olympic ice. He said the shocking outcome was "definitely mental." As he sat in the kiss-and-cry awaiting his scores, a hot mic caught Malinin lamenting that he wasn't on the 2022 Olympics team that went to Beijing, insisting he wouldn't have skated that poorly with some Olympic experience under his belt.
He didn't offer that same lament in his TV interview after, but wondered if over-confidence led to a lapse in focus on the ice.
"I felt like going into this competition I was so ready, I just felt ready getting on that ice, but I think maybe that might've been the reason -- I was too confident it was gonna go well," a stunned Malinin said. "So, you know, honestly it just happened. I can't process what just happened."
As the dust settled from Malinin's shocking routine, Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov emerged with the gold medal, while Japanese skaters Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato took home silver and bronze, respectively.
Malinin will now have to wait four more years to get his chance at Olympic redemption, but the immediate challenge is to figure out how to shake off a disastrous routine that will linger in his memory for a long time to come.
USA women's hockey trounces Italy, advances to semifinals
In the other marquee event of Friday, the U.S. women's hockey team continued its dominant play by routing Italy 6-0 in the quarterfinals to advance to the medal round against a to-be-determined opponent.
The Americans only led 1-0 after the first period due in large part to the spectacular efforts of Italian goaltender Gabriella Durante. However, the U.S. eventually solved Durante and hung five goals in the second period to coast to a blowout victory in the knockout round.
Megan Keller got on the board first, but it was Kendall Coyne Schofield who got the ball rolling for Team USA. She had two goals in the first few minutes of the middle frame to set the tone for the rest of the game. Caroline Harvey tacked on another assist, giving her eight points and the U.S. women's record for the most points in a single Olympics for a defender. Laila Edwards also shined with a goal and an assist.
Team USA has now outscored its opponents 26-1 in these Olympics, and it outshot the Italians 51-6 in this game. The Americans have faced little resistance so far, but perhaps that will change in the semifinal game on Monday.
