2026 Winter Olympics

[makam]

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?

I'm sure he probably wanted to be the first in history to land it at an Olympics. They don't name it after you, but they do remember it.

I haven't seen it (on a little vacay) but I know with Amber Glenn, it feels like she focuses her whole being on the triple axel and forgets she has the rest of the program to skate. But Amber probably needs the 3A to be in the medal talk, Illia didn't need the 4A but probably just wanted it bad.

 

[Nickp]

Nathan Chen had the same high expectations as Ilia Malinin going into the 2018 Olympics he finished in 5th place Chen came back in the 2022 Olympics and won gold

 

[RichardL]

Yeah, the reverse happened to Chen: messed up the short and then won the free to finish top 5 from 17th I think. Malinin will be back, but this free skate will be a huge part of the narrative around him until he has a chance to try again.

 

[JDB]

I've liked the drone footage so far. But I don't like it on big air broadcasts. The perspective is too disorienting.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

Nathan Chen had the same high expectations as Ilia Malinin going into the 2018 Olympics he finished in 5th place Chen came back in the 2022 Olympics and won gold

Nathan was three years younger in 2018 than Ilia is now. Competing at your second Olympics at 22 is different than at 25. Ilia would really have to defy the odds to win in 2030, given the last time a 25-year-old won was Scott Hamilton in 1984. The demands of the sport are so much greater now and it's not like Ilia has been without injuries up to this point. They just haven't kept him out of a major competition yet. To be honest, if I was Ilia, I think the best thing to do right now it take it a year at a time. Do not think about 2030.

 

[Denn]

Yeah, the reverse happened to Chen: messed up the short and then won the free to finish top 5 from 17th I think. Malinin will be back, but this free skate will be a huge part of the narrative around him until he has a chance to try again.

Amazing that, with 3 of the top 4 having such troubles, if Chen (or really anyone) had done that this week, his Free Skate was so good in 2018, he might have won silver.