While Team USA’s Ilia Malinin was the clear favorite to win the men’s free skate on Friday, closely trailing him was one of his longtime rivals, Japanese skater Yuma Kagiyama.
Malinin’s skate, however, fell far short of expectations. He fell twice and finished eighth, missing out on a medal in one of the most shocking moments in Winter Olympics history.
Kagiyama, by contrast, delivered a strong performance and secured the silver, while Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov claimed gold. Shaidorov finished with a season-best total score of 291.58, with Kagiyama close behind at 280.06.
After the event, while much of the attention remained on Malinin, Kagiyama spoke about the pressures his American rival faced.
“It was surprising and rare, something unexpected for sure,” Kagiyama said. “But considering how tightly packed his schedule was — skating both the team event’s short and free programs as well as the individual event’s short and free programs — it’s impressive that he persevered. He carried immense pressure, with the entire world expecting him to win gold. I can’t even begin to imagine the tension he felt. He must be deeply disappointed right now, but for someone competing in his first Olympics and skating four routines, I really admire what he accomplished.”
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Malinin revealed while he was very confident going into free skate final, moments before taking the ice he was overrun with “negative thoughts” that he believes played into his poor performance.
“It was really just something that overwhelmed me, and I just felt like I had no control, Malinin said. “Right before I got into my starting post, I just… all the negative thoughts just rushed into my head, and all the negative, just traumatic experiences, you know. I’ve been through a lot and it’s not easy, so being the Olympic gold hopeful is really just a lot to deal with, especially for my age.”
While it wasn’t his best showing, this is far from the last time we’ll see Malinin at the Olympics — and likely Kagiyama as well, as the two are only 21 and 22 years old.
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