Iliia Malinin leads men’s singles figure skating

​Sports Desk, Feb. 10 (EFE) – Iliia Malinin took the lead in the men’s singles figure skating event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, while Spain’s Tomás Guarino failed to qualify for the free skate.

​Malinin (108.16) put to rest any doubts raised by his performance in the team event.

However, the American left the Milano Ice Skating Arena with a bitter taste as the audience was anticipating the first quadruple Axel in the history of the Games, but, as in the team competition, Malinin changed it at the last minute to a quadruple flip.

​To compensate, he performed an unplanned combination of a quadruple Lutz and triple toe loop, which had a base score of 17.27. With that level of difficulty, his technical score of 62.35 was unbeatable.

​Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (103.07), the reigning Olympic silver medalist, achieved second place.

​The Japanese skater made a small mistake landing his triple Axel, preventing him from competing with the American’s score. However, all of his spins and step sequences were awarded the maximum level, so he remains within striking distance and could catch up in the free skate.

​Third place went to Adam Siao Him Fa. The Frenchman missed the European Championships in January due to a last-minute physical issue, but on Tuesday, he had a masterful technical and artistic performance, scoring a personal record of 102.55 in the short program, over a point higher than his previous best of 101.07.

​The technical panel did not have to review the two-time continental champion’s jumps to give him his score.

​Spain’s Tomás Guarino was able to perform his short program to Minions music after resolving copyright issues.

​A mistake on the triple Axel, with which he began the program, cost him many points in the technical section, although he did not fall. He finished with a score of 69.80, falling short of qualifying for the free program by less than three points.

​»I was very nervous at first, especially about the triple Axel. When the time came, I didn’t do it perfectly, but at least I didn’t fall. After that, I was able to concentrate, and I felt great. I wanted to do better, but I’m happy with what I did,» the Spaniard told Eurosport.

​The men’s individual figure skating competition will take place on Friday, February 13, starting at 7:00 p.m. CET. The reigning champion, American Nathan Chen, is not participating in this edition of the Olympic Games. EFE

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