2026 Winter Olympics

[OnlyBeansOnToast]

“You’re walking home”

 

[rlayt]

Interviewed by Andrea Joyce (still alive) and says it was mental

 

[MaryClare]

From what I could lip read

Malinin: you were amazing, congratulations
Shaidorov: are you ok, I’m sorry, commiserations

 

[rlayt]

You have to commend him for his honesty and grace.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I have now watched two and a half ice skating routines this Olympics. Wasn't he supposed to canter home? What the hell happened, is he injured or did his head go?

 

[rlayt]

He said it was mental.

 

[MaryClare]

I have now watched two and a half ice skating routines this Olympics. Wasn't he supposed to canter home? What the hell happened, is he injured or did his head go?

Head went. Seemed to happen to a few of the top qualifiers

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

How unfortunate. I can't even begin to imagine that kind of pressure.

 

[Lisaelaine80]

The French Ice Dance judge has a history of this. https://www.newsweek.com/sports/fre...-evan-bates-jezabel-dabouis-olympics-11513730

And will be allowed to continue judging bc apparently cheating is in fashion.

 

[RAFIKI]

I was double screening men’s singles and skeleton (woooo ) and enjoying the skating. IPlayer left skating as the top group came on and only returned when BBC2 came back with Grassl. Felt cursed. What a mess Looking forward to finding the winning prog later.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

God damn, that was crazy. Ilia was right, they should have sent him to Beijing 4 years ago.

I love Jason Brown, but there was no justification for sending him if they didn’t use him in the team competition and there were no spots on the line for next season. The idea of waiting your turn is so misguided.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

That was a worse Olympic men's competition to watch than 2014, even if I'm happy for Shaidorov.

 

[Rich]

I agree with this: In the kiss-and-cry area, Malinin seemed to say that if USA Figure Skating, the national governing body, had sent him to the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing and given him Olympic experience after he finished second at that year’s national championships — instead, he was passed over at age 17 — Friday’s failure wouldn’t have happened.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

Also, what has happened to US men's halfpipe snowboarding? Did the rest of the world simply catch up? I knew Australia was becoming competitive for a while, but it's Japan, too, now.

 

[Denn]

Oh
My
F*cking
God

This is exactly what I kept saying over and over in my mind and I texted it to multiple people while watching, too. It's the best I could come up with at the moment.

 

[Denn]

Olympic Pressure must be more than ever.

As a (diehard) fan of Adam Siao Him Fan, they offer online trainings to prepare you for a disaster. LOL. They also prepare you for the incredible — this is a guy who once rallied from 19th to bronze at Worlds. But he did it backwards this time. What a mess.

Kagiyama's stumbles were less drastic. But what a missed opportunity.
Yuma's NINTH silver medal at Worlds, Olympics, or Grand Prix final without winning.

Has any skating favorite — any discipline — ever imploded even close to the way Malinin did? I really don't think so. (Valieva doesn't count for obvious reasons.)

Congratulations to Shaidarov. Maybe the fact that he was not a favorite helped him avoid at least some of the Olympic Pressure. And now he's a gold medalist.

 

[JDB]

Ilia Malinin previously competed two programs for the team event. Trying a quad axel and going all-out at the individual free skate was a bad idea.

I watched Mikhail Shaidorov compete at worlds last year. He had the same intensity and ability to perform when it mattered.

 

[Lisaelaine80]

Ilia Malinin previously competed two programs for the team event. Trying a quad axel and going all-out at the individual free skate was a bad idea.

I watched Mikhail Shaidorov compete at worlds last year. He had the same intensity and ability to perform when it mattered.

That’s what I was thinking. Ilia did have Olympic experience just days ago, and he did well. Did he need the quad axel to win?

 

[Jerkin]

I agree with this: In the kiss-and-cry area, Malinin seemed to say that if USA Figure Skating, the national governing body, had sent him to the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing and given him Olympic experience after he finished second at that year’s national championships — instead, he was passed over at age 17 — Friday’s failure wouldn’t have happened.

Very easy to say that in hindsight but it doesn't always work like that. Simone got the twisties after dominating her first Olympics and everything else. Having more experience doesn't mean you are impervious to nerves or pressure.

 

[Sasha]

I'm so happy for Kazakhstan, but wow, Malinin's performance and reaction were tough to watch.