CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Ilia Malinin's coronation as an Olympic champion will have to wait. The 21-year-old U.S. figure skater stumbled twice during an uncharacteristically sloppy performance in the men's free skate on Friday,

Biles said she's "just really excited to watch" the athletes competing in men's figure skating

Team USA figure skating sensation Ilia Malinin entered Friday as an overwhelming favorite to take home gold in the men’s free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.

Malinin is the son of two Russian-born Olympic figure skaters, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, who competed for Uzbekistan at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. They later moved to Virginia, where Ilia was born in 2004. He started skating at age 6.

American fans ranked snowboarding and figure skating as the sports they're most likely watch during the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

Team USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates will go for the gold in the figure skating free dance finals of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026 at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

MILAN (AP) — An Olympic figure skater’s coach remains banned from the Milan Cortina Winter Games while he is investigated for “physical and psychological abuse” alleged by his former athlete, sport’s highest court said Thursday.

While the sporting action in Milan Cortina dominates the headlines, there have been some off-field moments that have caught the public's attention.