As Malinin implodes, Canada’s Gogolev finishes 5th

MILAN – Canada’s Stephen Gogolev placed fifth in the men’s figure skating event as heavy favourite Ilia Malinin stunningly fell apart Friday night at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games.

Skating to “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Sergei Rachmaninov, Gogolev landed three quad jumps to post the second-highest free skate with 186.37 points at Milano Ice Skating Arena.

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The 21-year-old from Toronto finished with a personal-best 273.78 points, just 1.12 off the podium as several skaters struggled on the sport’s biggest and brightest stage.

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And none more than Malinin.

The self-proclaimed “Quad God” fell twice and popped out of several jumps, including his patented quad axel, to plummet to eighth (264.49) after leading the short program as the crowd gasped in disbelief.

Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov won gold with 291.58 points, while Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (280.06) and Shun Sato (274.90) took silver and bronze, respectively.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2026.