2026 Olympics | Figure Skating | Men’s Free Skate

In a shocking upset, Mikhail Shaidorov rose from fifth place to capture the Men’s Olympic gold in figure skating on Friday. It was the first time a man from Kazakhstan has medaled in this event since the late Denis Ten who took bronze in 2014. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama maintained second place to earn his second Olympic silver despite a sixth-place finish in the free skate. Teammate Shun Sato soared from ninth place after the Short Program to claim the bronze in his debut at this event. Headliner Ilia Malinin (USA), who stood in first after the Short Program, had a meltdown in the Free Skate, placing 15th in that segment and eighth overall.

Mikhail Shaidorov

Shaidorov stood in a healthy fifth (92.94) after the short program. Showing very good jump technique, he landed a solid triple Axel-Euler-quad Salchow, quad toe, quad flip, and quad toe-triple toe. The only error in his routine to “Confessa” and “Diva Dance” was a slightly underrotated quad Lutz. Two spins graded a level four, and the skater earned positive grades of execution (GOE) throughout. He scored a new personal best of 198.64 points and then took the leader’s chair to wait for four more men to skate, including Kagiyama and Malinin. After all men skated, Shaidorov looked stunned. He had scored a total of 291.58 points—another personal best, and had separated himself from the rest of group by more than 10 points to win the gold.

“My goal tonight was just to show everything I can do and to show a beautiful performance and to prove and to show how much figure skating has grown in Kazakhstan,” said the 2025 World silver medalist. “Skating early in the group was actually a plus for me. I just went out, retied my laces, and skated. I had been waiting all day for this moment, and when it was finally time, I just really wanted to go out there and perform.”

“I don’t even know… these emotions are incredible!” he added. ” I’ve been working for this since childhood. Today, I just wanted to enjoy the moment and show everything I’ve worked on for all these years, and I did that.”

Shaidorov watched Malinin’s performance.

“I was really supporting him,” said the 21-year-old. “I was rooting for him, and he started to make mistakes. I was really surprised because he really, rarely makes mistakes. And so, I still tried to support him. And then when the marks came, I truly couldn’t believe it! When Ilia came up to me, he said: ‘You deserve it!'”

Yuma Kagiyama

Like Malinin, Kagiyama also had a rough free skate, placing sixth (176.99) in that segment. He stepped out of his opening quad Salchow before taking a fall on a quad flip. He hung on to a quad to but then put a foot down on the back end of a triple flip-triple loop. Despite the errors, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, showed quality level four spins and footwork and scored a total of 280.06 points for second place overall.

“The fact that I was able to challenge myself, and that I was able to take on that challenge here on this stage, is a very big achievement and carries very big meaning for me,” said Kagiyama. “Although today was very frustrating, if I look at it from the bigger picture, on this Olympic stage there were a lot of experiences and important lessons. So overall, I think I can say I did my best.”

The 22-year-old was also very happy to share the podium with teammate Sato.

“At first, he didn’t even realize he’d won a medal,” said Kagiyama. “Even when I said, ‘You won a medal’, he reacted like, ‘Huh?’ But I think it’s a medal Shun earned with his own strength, so I’m genuinely happy for him. From now on, we’ll continue to compete in the same events together. There’s also the World Championship coming up. I want to win against him. I kept losing in the free skate, so I want to gain more strength and do my best.”

Kagiyama added that he was focused on the performance he wanted to give, but it didn’t work out.

“I’m very frustrated that I wasn’t able to fully achieve that goal,” he said of possibly winning gold. “But today, Shaidorov really delivered a wonderful performance and earned the gold medal, so I sincerely want to congratulate him from the bottom of my heart.”

The skater from Nagoya observed that Malinin’s skate was “unusual” and that some parts were “surprising.”

“But he skated the team event short and free programs, as well as the individual short and free programs,” noted Kagiyama. “In such a tight schedule like that, I think he did really well, he overcame it all and came this far. Since moving up to seniors, he has achieved so many accomplishments and produced many strong results. At this Olympics, he was almost expected by the whole world to win.”

“It must have been an immeasurable amount of pressure and nervousness that must have brought,” he continued. “I can’t even imagine it. I think he himself must be feeling very frustrated. But at his first Olympics, I think delivering four performances is amazing.”

Shun Sato

Sato gave a near-solid performance to The Firebird with the exception of a step out on a triple Lutz. The two-time Four Continents medalist landed a solid quad Lutz, triple Axel-Euler-triple Salchow, quad toe-triple toe, and solo quad toe. He earned positive GOES for nearly all jumps as well as his footwork and spins to place third with a new personal best score of 194.86. With a total score of 274.90, he soared from ninth to third place overall.

“I was ninth after the short program,” noted Sato. “I was still frustrated that I hadn’t been able to perform at my full potential. But I never gave up. Heading into the free skate, I had controlled things well in the team event, so I held onto that positive image and focused on my own performance, thinking I would do my best.”

“I can’t really believe it’s real yet but I’m excited about the medal and I want to carry this forward into what comes next,” he said.

Of Malinin’s performance, he commented: “I thought it was unusual. He hasn’t made mistakes this season. Even so, it’s incredible that he attempted the quad Axel. Thanks to Malinin, I’ve been able to reach this level. I want to keep up with him from now on as well.”

Junhwan Cha

South Korea’s Junhwan Cha missed the podium by less than point. The 2023 World silver medalist, who was sixth after the short, placed fifth in the free skate and fourth overall (273.92). His theatrical performance to “Balada para un Loco” featured an excellent quad Salchow, but he fell on a quad toe. While one triple Axel was slightly underrotated, the other six triple jumps were clean. He also picked up a level four on two spins and footwork.

“I kept sliding,” he said of the fall. “I was trying to want to get up, but I was off-balance. And it was quite close to the boards. So I was like, ‘Oh my god, I have to get up’, and then I just went.”

Despite the results, the skater said he was both happy and grateful.

“I really gave my best today here,” said the 24-year-old. “Even though I made a mistake, I fought through everything else. I gave everything today, so I’m proud of myself that I came here and I didn’t give up. It was through those hard times.”

“I didn’t expect the (fourth) placement because my main goal at this point was to have my moment and enjoy that moment,” he added. “On that side, I think I achieved that goal. So, I was already proud of myself and happy.”

Stephen Gogolev

Stephen Gogolev of Canada gave an incredible performance to finish second in the free skate with a new personal best score of 186.37. His classical routine to Rachmaninov’s “Piano Concerto No. 2” featured a solid quad Salchow, quad toe and quad Salchow-triple toe. He also landed six triple jumps, but stepped out of the triple loop near the end of his routine. However, two spins and the footwork were deemed a level four. The skater, who stood in 10th place after the short, soared to fifth place overall with another personal best total score of 273.78.

“I think I did quite well for Olympics, and I’m very happy with the total results,” said the2026 Canadian National champion. “Considering this is my personal best, the season’s best, overall, I’m very happy.”

The 21-year-old skater found himself in the leader’s chair for a bit during the competition.

“It actually felt amazing because it’s something that I haven’t experienced before,” said Gogolev. “But at the same time, I was really eager to watch the last three, hopefully the last two. I was happy to be there, but I also wanted to watch the rest of them.”

Petr Gumennik

Competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN), Petr Gumennik stood in 12th (86.72) after the short program. The 2020 Junior World bronze medalist opened with a clean quad flip, quad Lutz and quad loop in his free skate to music from Onegin. However, two quad Salchows, both in combination jumps, were deemed slightly underrotated. A solo triple Axel was also underrotated and he received an edge call on a triple Lutz. While two spins and good footwork were graded a level four, he left quite a minimum of 10 on the table with the calls. Still, he picked up a personal best of 184.49 points for fourth place in this segment, moving up to sixth place overall (271.21).

After the short program, Gumennik said he was very happy to be competing at this event despite not representing his country.

“I don’t mind that I don’t represent any country,” said Gumennik. “Even the possibility to skate is very meaningful to me. Usually after the short program I feel a little tired, even when I skate very well. But today I’m full of energy. Maybe it’s the Olympic energy that gave me extra strength.”

“My jumps were really good and clean,” he said of the free skate. “They were easy. I’m glad that I was able to prepare as much as I can and not miss my opportunity to do what I was prepared to do. The six minute warm-up for me was actually four minutes, because last minute I had to calm down. I don’t even remember the last time I was skating first in the group for the free program; it was really different for me. I decided not to repeat any jump in my warm-up.”

Adam Siao Him Fa

Adam Siao Him Fa of France, who stood in third after short, placed 12th (166.72) in the free skate, slipping to seventh overall (269.27). While the spins and footwork were very good, the 2024 World bronze medalist took a fall on a quad Lutz before stepping out of a quad toe and quad Salchow.

“I’m very disappointed about what I did,” said the 25-year-old. “So far, it wasn’t what I wanted and what I worked for. It’s very hard to accept it. It’s still new. It’s a huge disappointment and I’m very sad about what I did.”

Ilia Malinin

The two-time and current World champion was off to a good start, landing a solid quad flip, but then popped an intended quad Axel.

“I wouldn’t say it necessarily threw me off,” said Malinin. “I knew I didn’t need a perfect program. I still could have had a really good skate. But then more mistakes happened.”

After the failed Axel, the 21-year-old doubled a quad loop and then took a fall on both a quad Lutz and quad toe, shocking the crowd.

“Maybe I felt too confident,” said Malinin. “It was definitely mental. I blew it.”

The skater said that despite the negatives, the “atmosphere was incredible.”

“The support— honestly, even with that skate—the crowd never stopped cheering,” Malinin noted. “They were supporting me the whole time, and that really meant a lot. Honestly, the support is very special. In this sport, you have the privilege of being not only an athlete, but also an artist. But with that comes a lot of pressure—the expectations, the media, everything around it.”

“I’m still trying to understand exactly what happened,” he added. “But it’s done. I can’t change the outcome. My life has had a lot of ups and downs, and in that moment, everything just felt very overwhelming. I honestly didn’t know how to handle it.”

After seeing his scores, Malinin didn’t hesitate to head to the leader’s chair to congratulate Shaidorov.

“I watched him skate from the locker room, and I’m just so proud of him,” said Malinin. “I heard he didn’t have the best season. We’re all in this sport together, and we’re there for each other. That’s what makes this sport special. I think people forget that sometimes. They only see us competing and assume we’re rivals without good relationships. But it’s actually the opposite. There’s joy, motivation, and encouragement. We’re like a big family.”

Rounding out the field

Daniel Grassl of Italy placed ninth overall (263.71) after a ninth-place finish in the free skate (263.71).

“It was very hard today,” said the 2022 European silver medalist. “Yesterday, I was throwing up all night, so it was very difficult to compete today. In practice yesterday, I was doing one jump and I was literally dying. I was always at the boards and feeling bad. Even during the six-minute warm-up today, I wasn’t feeling very good. So it was difficult.”

Nika Egadze of Georgia rose from 15th to 10th place overall (260.27).

“I feel very good now because I ended my competition on a good note,” said the 2026 European champion. “From the beginning of the competition, I kept getting better and better. Today, after the fall on the Lutz, I told myself, ‘You have to fight. It’s fight here and now.’ I told myself not to give up, and I pushed myself all the way until the end.”

Kevin Aymoz of France finished 11th (259.94), followed by USA’s Andrew Torgashev (259.06) and Kao Miura of Japan (246.88).

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