On a stunning evening at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, the figure skating gods viewed the performances of Kagiyama Yuma and Sato Shun favorably, but not for the so-called “Quad God,” Ilia Malinin. As the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 unfolded on February 13, a tumultuous night for the men’s singles event saw Malinin collapse dramatically, finishing in eighth place, while Kazakh skater Mikhail Shaidorov captured gold, with Kagiyama and Sato taking home silver and bronze respectively. This marks Japan’s remarkable achievement of securing two medals in men’s singles for the third consecutive Olympic Games.
Despite their podium finishes, neither Kagiyama nor Sato felt entirely satisfied with their performances. Sato finished third in the long program, speculating that he fell short of his free skate top performance due to a mistake on his triple Lutz. Kagiyama, who also stumbled, received the sixth-best free score, finishing just slightly worse.
The real upset belonged to Malinin. The USA star delivered an unusually poor performance, finishing 15th in the free—with this being his first international defeat in over two years. The outcome stunned not only fans but also his rivals, Kagiyama and Sato, who hold mutual respect for the American skater.
Kagiyama spoke candidly about his nerves during the free skate, despite having arrived at the Olympics feeling confident. “I went into the free today with high hopes, but the nerves got to me,” he admitted, while expressing pride in his overall performance. Sato reflected on his Olympic debut, saying, “Honestly, I can’t believe it… I’m so glad I never gave up.”
Both athletes expressed empathy for Malinin’s struggles, recognizing the immense pressure on a skater of his caliber, particularly after completing both team and individual events back-to-back. Sato encapsulated their sentiments perfectly by stating, “He’s been pushing us all to be better…” as they acknowledged his continual influence on the sport.
