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Ilia Malinin places 8th after falling twice in Olympic free skate
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MILAN — Ilia Malinin, the American figure skating sensation known as the "Quad God," proved to be a mere mortal after all.
The 21-year-old from Northern Virginia fell twice during a disastrous free skate at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Friday night, dropping him off the podium and allowing Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan to claim a stunning gold medal.
"I blew it," Malinin said afterward. "That's honestly the first thing that came to my mind."
Malinin led by a comfortable margin after the short program and merely had to deliver a mediocre performance Friday night to add individual gold to his team gold medal. Instead, the two-time reigning world champion was trying to hold back the tears after one of the worst nights of his career, one that left a star-packed crowd inside Milano Ice Arena sitting in stunned silence.
Winter Olympics: Ilia Malinin misses podium in figure skating shock; Shaidorov takes gold – as it happened
Shaidorov’s win should be celebrated. He skated brilliantly. He may be Malinin’s rival for years to come.
But it’ll be impossible to remember this event as anything other than a catastrophe for the world’s best skater over the past three years by a wide margin.
The flip side is that Malinin came through in the team event, which means several US skaters will leave Italy with gold medals. That may be of little consolation at the moment.
No other sporting event has the drama of the Olympics. Not the World Cup, where the players all immediately turn around and return to lucrative and high-profile professional careers. Only here. When it goes well, it’s enthralling. In this case, it’s heartbreaking.
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2026 Winter Olympics live updates: Ilia Malinin stumbles and misses the podium
Stream every moment and every medal of the 2026 Milan Cortina Games on Peacock. Read more NBC News coverage of the Olympics and the athletes competing.
The Canadian men's hockey team defeated Switzerland 5-1 in today's preliminary round face-off.
Kevin Fiala of Switzerland is escorted off the ice on a stretcher in Milan, on Friday. RvS.Media / Monika Majer via Getty Images
Swiss player Kevin Fiala was removed from the ice on a stretcher after suffering an injury during the third period. The crowd stood up to applaud Fiala as he was taken off the ice and the entire Canadian team stood for his departure.
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