MILAN – Stephen Gogolev arrived at the Olympic Games with modest expectations, a former prodigy yet to announce himself on the senior international stage.
Ilia Malinin came for a coronation. There seemed to be no question the gravity-defying “Quad God” would capture the men’s figure skating crown.
Yet only one of them spent time in the leader’s chair. And it wasn’t Malinin.
Canada’s Gogolev placed fifth in the men’s event – delivering the second-best free skate – while Malinin stunningly unravelled Friday night at the Milan Cortina Games.
“A special moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” Gogolev said. “I’m overjoyed with the emotions right now.”
Skating to “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Sergei Rachmaninov, the 21-year-old from Toronto landed three quad jumps to score 186.37 points at Milano Ice Skating Arena. He finished his Olympic debut with a personal-best 273.78 points, a mere 1.12 off the podium as several contenders faltered on the sport’s brightest stage.
None more than Malinin.
In one of the biggest upsets in figure skating history, the 21-year-old American fell twice and popped multiple jumps, including his patented quad axel, plummeting to eighth with 264.49 after finishing a jaw-dropping 15th in the free skate.
The star-studded crowd – including Simone Biles – gasped when Malinin singled the axel. The arena fell into a stunned silence, fans covering their mouths in disbelief, before shifting into a roar of encouragement.
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But the mistakes kept coming, and in the end he stood at centre ice with hands tangled in his hair, shaking his head and knowing he’d just blown the golden opportunity.
The shocking performance meant Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov won gold with 291.58 points, looking just as shocked as everyone in the building. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (280.06) and Shun Sato (274.90) took silver and bronze, respectively.
“All of this pressure, all of the media, and just being the Olympic gold hopeful was too much to handle,” said Malinin, who answered every question with poise in a dumbstruck mixed zone.
He said overwhelming nerves hit the moment he struck his starting pose.
“All the traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head,” he said. “It’s not a pleasant feeling and honestly still I’m trying to understand what happened.”
Gogolev’s reaction after his final skate, more than an hour earlier, was pure joy. The typically reserved skater pumped his fists and exclaimed “wow!” in the kiss-and-cry.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “A year ago I wouldn’t be able to imagine that I would be here at the Olympics and performing as well as I did today.
“This definitely gives me a big confidence boost.”
Gogolev could land triple axels at 10 years old and became the youngest skater to land several quad jumps. But a major growth spurt sparked recurring back problems.
A year ago, he wasn’t on the ice. Injuries had pushed him to the point of needing three months off. He wasn’t sure he would ever compete again.
Instead, he returned healthy, winning a medal on the Grand Prix circuit and capturing his first national title – seven years after winning silver at 14.
At the Olympics, he sent Canada into the team event final before finishing just shy of the podium.
“If we had predicted that, nobody would have believed us,” coach Lee Barkell said.
Barkell added that Gogolev is a “completely new person.”
“Looks like he loves the sport again,” Barkell said. “Since he got here, he just embraced the entire Olympic spirit, and he stepped up to the plate and delivered.
“He’s just proven that he’s a player.”
Gogolev is expected to compete for Canada again at the world championship in Prague in March.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
