Ilia Malinin’s hopes of double Olympic figure skating gold crumbled on Friday as he suffered a nightmare on the ice while Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych lost his appeal against his ban from the Milan-Cortina Games.
Expected to romp to the individual men’s Olympic title after a stunning display in Tuesday’s short program, US sensation Malinin capitulated in the free skate, finishing in eighth spot overall.
The disconsolate skater held his head in his hands after his disastrous performance in front of a stunned crowd at the Milan Ice Skating Arena, who witnessed the biggest shock of the Games so far.
Photo: Reuters
The 21-year-old said his failure was “definitely mental” after falling twice in a surprisingly awkward effort from the man who has revolutionized and dominated the sport.
“Maybe I was too confident it was going to go well. Honestly, it happened. I can’t process what just happened,” he said.
Mikhail Shaidorov, leading the way with an overall score of 291.58 points could barely believe his eyes when he saw Malinin’s score of 264.49, which confirmed a shock Olympic triumph for the 21-year-old Kazakh.
Photo: AFP
Malinin’s two-year unbeaten run came to an abrupt end following an error-strewn performance, which drew gasps from fans and left him a lowly 15th in the free skate.
His failure to add to the team gold he won earlier in the Games was all the more surprising given all of his competitors stumbled, including Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who took silver with 280.06 points.
Earlier, sport’s highest court dismissed Heraskevych’s appeal against his ban from the Winter Olympics for wearing a helmet adorned with pictures of Ukrainian athletes killed since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Photo: AFP
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday kicked Heraskevych out of the Games following a stand-off between the 27-year-old, the IOC and the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation over his refusal to ditch the helmet.
The IOC said the pictures on the helmet breached rules on political neutrality during competition, a ruling that was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
CAS secretary-general Matthieu Reeb told reporters the court had “found that freedom of expression is guaranteed at the Olympic Games, but not on the field of play, which is a sacred principle.”
Photo: AFP
The IOC had tried and failed to come to a compromise with Heraskevych by allowing him to wear a plain black armband during Thursday’s men’s heats.
Heraskevych said his disqualification was “frustrating” as he presented the helmet to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Munich, Germany, later on Friday.
“Nobody was complaining about this helmet, so it was a purely discriminatory decision ... and I should be there,” Heraskevych added.
In early action, Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo equaled the Winter Olympics record of eight gold medals by winning the men’s individual 10km time trial — his third victory of the 2026 Games.
Australian snowboard veteran Scotty James’ dreams of an elusive gold medal in his fifth Winter Games were shattered after he was beaten by Japan’s Yuto Totsuka in a gripping men’s halfpipe final.
James came to Italy in top form after winning his fifth consecutive X Games title, but he tumbled toward the end of his run in Livigno when he believed he had the gold medal in his grasp.
An emotional James, 31, said he was targeting the 2030 Winter Olympics in France for another shot at topping the podium.
“I’m going to be that bad smell for four years,” he said. “I’m going to come back. I hate losing, so this has motivated me now.”
Matt Weston claimed Great Britain’s first medal of the Games by storming to the men’s skeleton title.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
RSS