As February rolls on, the Winter Olympics have come and gone, and so have the medals. The USA has been fighting for the top spots in the Olympics for the last few winter games in PyeongChang and Beijing, with the podium largely being dominated by Russian and Japanese skaters. The competition was just as tight in Milan this year, including a near-total upset of the scoreboard.
The first event was the team event, in which skaters and pairs perform individual shows that contribute to a total score for each country. The USA took first, Japan snatched up second, and the homeland team, Italy, gained third out of ten teams. Our own team consisted of singles skaters Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu, Amber Glen, pairs skaters Ellie Kam and Daniel O’Shea, as well as ice dance pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates. American skaters dominated the World Figure Skating Championships in 2025, and the team proved its skill by gaining gold. Skaters in the team competed from Feb. 6-8, one of the early events of the two-week-long games.
The men’s singles brought controversy with it, with a total upset of the scores. The men’s singles event consisted of two programs, a.k.a. skates, a Short Program and a Free Program, which is longer. Ilia Malinin was the favorite going into the Olympics, off a winning run in the World Championships. His quad-jumps, where a skater jumps from one foot and completes four rotations in the air, then lands on one blade on the ice, are the reason Ilia Malinin was favored. Specifically, his quad-axel jump, uniquely difficult for the forward takeoff and extra half rotation in the air, is a jump that has been successfully landed only by Malinin in competition. His short program placed him in first, with Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and France’s Adam Siao Him Fa in second and third, respectively. In the Free Program, Malinin failed to amaze with his renowned quad-jumps, slipping from many and crash landing his way to 8th place. Malinin said to NBC News, “I’m still so grateful that I was able to put in this work and effort to get to where I am. But of course, it was not the skate I wanted.” Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan rocketed his way up from a previous 5th place to first with an outstanding program. Shaidorov earned the first gold medal for Kazakhstan in figure skating. He told NBC, “It was my goal. It’s why I’m training every day, and why I wake up and go to the training. That’s it.” Yuma Kagiyama held his placement despite a stumble on a quad jump. Yuma competed in the 2022 games and earned silver there as well, showing great consistency. His fellow Japanese skater Shun Sato placed in third and took home a bronze medal. No one could have predicted the outcome of the 2026 Olympic Men’s skate, and it’s a stark reminder of how difficult the sport of figure skating truly is.
The respective women’s singles division was just as tight a competition, with placements jumping between the first and second events. The short program yielded a young 17-year-old Ami Nakai from Japan in first place, teammate and previous Olympic bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto in second, and the American Alysa Liu in third. Fellow American skater Amber Glenn did not take so quickly to the competition, falling to 13th in the short program results. Amber was another favored skater going into the Olympics, her never-ceasing work ethic pushing her to take a gold at the recent 2025 U.S. Championships. In her short program, however, the pressure got to her, causing her dip in ranking. In the following free program, she redeemed herself with a stunning skate, only pausing once to steady herself while landing a jump. She placed 5th overall between the two programs. The top three spots flipped, with Nakai taking a dip down to 3rd and Alysa Liu proving herself and landing in first place. Liu’s gold medal is the first women’s singles gold since the 2002 Olympic Games. Alysa competed in the previous 2022 games, placing 6th at just 16 years old, one of the youngest competitors there. Later in 2022, Liu announced her retirement from the sport, citing disinterest, exhaustion, and high expectations from everyone around her. She wanted to branch out from the only life she’s ever known, on the ice. However, in 2024, she announced that she would return to competition, just a year after returning to the ice. She shared that she didn’t have high expectations for herself in competition and decided to focus on her own enjoyment and craft. However, the medals started to pile up, and soon she was once again qualified for the Olympic Games. Her gold medal is proof of her new work ethic and method. After the win, she talked with NBC, “When I was skating – hearing the cheers – and I felt so connected with the audience. I want to be out there again.” Her progressive approach and alternative style landed her in the hearts of many in America, especially those from her hometown of Oakland, California.
In a similar style to the singles events, the pairs skating also consists of a short and free program. Pairs skating, man and woman, take the ice and, including jumps, spins, and technical footwork, also perform lifts and throw jumps, and a move known as a death spiral. Lifts and throws are performed by the male partner lifting the female partner up off the ice while gliding, or tossing her into a jump. Death spirals, for their haunting name, appear terrifyingly beautiful, as the male partner spins the female partner around while she leans at severe angles on the ice. Going into the games, the favored pair was World Champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan. The pair placed fifth with their short program, Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin taking the initial first place. Second place held strong between both events, with Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia holding their ground. In the free program, Riku and Ryuichi lifted themselves to first while Fabienne Hase and Volodin landed in third. The two pairs from America, Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe, alongside Ellie Kam and Daniel O’Shea, gained 7th and 9th place, respectively.
The lesser-known counterpart to pairs figure skating is pairs ice dance. Ice dance is a pairs event that is more rhythmic and artistic than pairs figure skating, not consisting of any major jumps. Their ‘short program’ is known as the rhythm dance, a shorter times skate consisting of complicated footwork and choreography, synchronized spinning across the ice known as twizzles, and pairs lifts, similar but in a different style to figure skating pair’s lifts. The favored pair going into the 2026 games was Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA. The longtime competitors and partners are married and wrapping up their competitive run in the next few years. Another top contender was France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, though not without controversy. Beaudry and Cizeron are relatively new partners; Cizeron previously skated with Gabriella Papadakis for 20 years. Cizeron and Papadakis earned gold at the previous 2022 games, before officially splitting in 2024. Papadakis accused Cizeron of being a demanding and harsh partner on the ice, with Cizeron sending a formal notice of cease and desist to Papadakis. Cizeron returned to skating in 2025 with Beaudry, working their way up and fighting neck and neck with Chock and Bates during the season. During their rhythm dance, despite placing first, some keen-eyed fans noticed their synchronized spins were not so synchronized, and compared them to the lower-scoring American pair. Some started to suspect foul play from the judges, and it wouldn’t be the first time in skating. However, all three medal pairs held their placement to the end of the competition, Piper Gillies and Paul Poirier of Canada securing bronze. A disappointing outcome for the American couple Chock and Bates, who had hoped to secure the Olympic gold.
The final event of the 2026 Olympic figure skating competition was the gala and exhibition skate, where skaters put on an unscored, low-stakes, and high-fun performance on the ice. Featuring performers from the podium and a few more, skaters let their hair down, performing themed programs that they planned before the competition. Early into the gala, Spain’s pairs figure skating team took the ice with a patriotic soccer (or football, in their case) themed show. They brought the energy to the stadium and showed some impressive moves with a soccer ball and a mini-goal on the ice. Fellow pairs competitors of Georgia spun out with a Mortal Kombat-themed performance, donning character costumes (Kitana and Sub-Zero) and skating to video game soundtracks. Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates performed a romantic program, reaching the hearts of the audience with their love. Lee Hae-in of Korea performed a program to the soundtrack of K-Pop Demon Hunters, dressing in a character costume and using a fan and a flowing cloak as props. Estonian skater Niina Petrōkina pulled out all the stops for her “Cell Block Tango” program, with her cheeky murders of Ilia Malinin and Cha Jun-Hwan. Malinin himself took the ice with an angst-filled program to NF’s “Fear” and sporting a casual outfit instead of a traditional costume. His program, which included his signature quad jumps and his incredible backflip on ice, spoke to the importance of mental health in the face of stress and social media hate. America’s golden girl, Alysa Liu, wrapped up the night with a stellar performance of the viral hit “Stateside” by PinkPantheress featuring Zara Larsson. Her skate was full of energy as she hit moves from the iconic dance, incorporating her joyful skating flair and smile. The final event of Olympic figure skating wrapped up with Mikhail Shaidorov entering the rink in a bulky panda suit, performing his Kung-fu Panda-themed program. While the suit restricted his performance, his charm and silly spirit enchanted viewers. He brought out other characters, Sub-Zero and Deadpool, on the ice to challenge his skills, suffering the hero’s journey of defeat before rising back to the light. As he left the ice, he was greeted by guest star Jackie Chan, martial arts and movie icon, and an idol of Shaidorov. The gala ended with a collective performance from all the skaters from the night, saying their goodbye to the 2026 Milan games.
