Ilia Malinin Propels Team USA to Figure Skating Gold Medal With Clutch Performance

Malinin didn’t have his cleanest performance, but secured the gold for the U.S.

Ilia Malinin of the United States of America won the men’s free skate portion of the team figure skating competition at the 2026 Olympics. | James Lang-Imagn Images

Ilia Malinin had his first big Olympic moment on Sunday, winning the men’s free skate portion of the figure skating team event and propelling the United States to a gold medal.

The United States entered the final round of the team competition tied for first place with Japan at 59 points. It came down to Malinin and Japan’s Shun Sato, who were the final two skaters.

Malinin didn’t have his cleanest performance, slipping on one jump early in his routine, but otherwise turned in a performance worthy of the moment, earning an impressive score of 200.03. Sato followed the 21-year-old two-time defending world champion and had a near-flawless routine that simply didn’t have the difficulty level of his American competition. Sato finished with an outstanding 194.86, but it wasn’t enough.

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On Saturday, Malinin competed in the men’s short program of the team event and turned in an uncharacteristically flat performance. He tallied a disappointing score of 98.00, finishing second behind Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who is expected to be his top competition for a gold in the individual event.

When it came to his second-ever Olympic skate, Malinin did more than enough to secure the gold for the U.S. It was his first career gold medal.

Malinin will be back on the ice on Tuesday for the men’s individual short program. The free skate will take place on Friday.

Ilia Malinin career achievements

Malinin is considered the best men’s figure skater in the world after taking home back-to-back world championships (2024, ‘25), along with four straight U.S. championships (‘23 to ‘26).

In 2024, Malinin won his first world title by blowing away the competition in Montreal. He posted a total score of 333.76, besting Kagiyama, who won the silver medal by more than 24 points. The 227.79 he earned for his free state was a record. He later topped that in December 2025 at the 2025–26 Grand Prix Final when he posted a new world record of 238.24.

Malinin again came out on top at the 2025 world championships in Boston. He was the top performer in both the short program and the free skate, compiling a total score of 318.56. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov won the silver medal, but was far behind at 287.47. Kagiyama finished third at 278.19.

This is Malilin’s first Olympics, but that is only due to a bit of controversy. As a 17-year-old in 2022, he won the bronze medal at the U.S. championships, which should have secured him a spot on the team for the 2022 Games in Beijing. But the committee overseeing the team chose fourth-place finishing Jason Brown for a spot on the team instead. Brown finished sixth at the Olympics.

Malinin has made the most of his Olympics thus far and is poised to add more hardware to his trophy case this week.

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