My Most Memorable Moments at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Figure Skating

I have travelled to several World Championships and International Grand Prix events over the years but attending the Olympic Games has remained my dream since childhood.  That was until this past February 2026 when I headed to Milan to watch Olympic figure skating with my two friends. (I ended up spending a couple of days at the hospital in the middle of the trip with an emergency gallbladder removal surgery but more on that in another story).

My medical emergency aside, how was attending Olympic figure skating competitions different from other international figure skating competitions?

There was of course excitement at the national and world figure skating events I have attended in the past but electricity inside the Unipol Olympic arena was at another level! The emotions from international fans around you, athletes and coaches were just so much stronger than at the non-Olympic events.  But most importantly- your own emotions with years of Olympic anticipation buried in them were also dramatically amplified!

There was no lack of drama, monumental triumph and catastrophic failure during Milano figure skating events.

Here are my most memorable Milano Olympic Figure Skating Moments.

 

But first, here are the Olympic figure skating events I attended.

I went to official men’s free program training on February 12, Men’s Free Skate on February 13^th, short and free programs in Pairs (February 15 and 16^th) and Women’s Free Skate on February 19^th.  The only figure skating event I did not attend at the Milam Olympics was ice dance- logistically it just didn’t fit into the week we had planned and frankly, I thought the competition intrigue was a bit less intense than in other three events.  I was actually wrong about that as mere months prior to the event, the French 2022 Olympic Champion  (with former partner Gabriela Papadakis) Guillaume Cizeron had entered the competition pool with new partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry and ended up winning Olympic Gold over other favorites- Americans Evan Bates and Madison Chock.

Men’s Practice.

The very moment we stepped onto the Olympic Unipol arena for Men’s Practice on February 12 (straight from our cross-Atlantic flight) was very memorable (we arranged for our driver to hold our luggage in the car).   We could barely contain the excitement – it felt surreal and completely real at the same time!  We absorbed every little detail of skaters’ interactions with coaches and among themselves before stepping onto the ice.  We saw every group of men’s skaters in the official Free Skate order concluding with Ilia Malinin practicing his quad Axels right in front of us. Little did we know what was to follow on the day of competition.

Men’s Free Skate

Friday the 13^th will go down in Olympic figure skating history as one of the most surprising ever.  First, I held my breath as Mikhail Shaidorov (Kazakhstan) was confidently putting down jump after jump in his five-quad program (including his signature triple Axel/quad Salchow combination) and finally dancing exuberantly through his “ wacky” choreography at the end of  the program.  After his triumphant performance (with only one small mistake on one of the quad landings) Mikhail took the “Leader Chair” with 4 skates to go.  And after each one (Daniel Grassl, Adam Siao Him Fa, Yuma Kagiyama, Ilia Malinin) his Olympic hopes were gradually rising: from bronze to silver to finally gold. With every skater who failed to surpass his score, the magnitude of what was happening grew heavier inside the arena until cheers and gasps broke out following Ilia Malinin’s marks as we slowly realized that Mikhail had just won Olympic gold. The Leader’s Chair, sometimes criticized as theatrical, suddenly felt intimate. It allowed thousands of spectators to witness the rawest Olympic emotions: shock, heartbreak, triumph.

Mikhail had a difficult season after winning a surprise world silver in March’ 25 (he was only 14^th at  the ’24 Worlds a year earlier) but was steadily rising from competition to competition in the Olympic season. I interviewed Mikhail and his coach Alexei Urmanov at Skate America for a Divine Sport site where he told me how much he aspired to skate a 5-quad free program this season to this music (a compilation performed by Kazakh singer Dimash Qudaibergen was not universally liked).  Mikhail’s Olympic triumph was hard-earned.

My other very memorable Olympic moment (along with thousands of fans’ around me) but for a different reason was Ilia Malinin’s skate. As a short program winner Ilia was the last to skate and the pressure of being a heavy favorite (unbeatable in nearly three years with back-to-back ’24 and ’25 World titles) must have just about boiled over.  When he took his starting pose in Milan, I thought he looked pale. I was nervous for him but with a recent record win at the Grand Prix Final just weeks earlier where he became the first skater ever to successfully perform all 7 quadruple jumps in competition earning a world record free skate score of 238.24 – no one could imagine the extent of the collapse. Ilia’s score in Milan was a mere 156.33- he landed 3 quadruple jumps out of 7 he attempted, but he also made other mistakes finishing 15^th in free skate (8^th overall).

There were so many conflicting emotions at the arena that night, but I was fully present to celebrate Mikhail’s well deserved victory.

Earlier that evening, as I was making my way around the very crowded arena hallways during the ice resurfacing break I peeked onto the ice and was happily surprised to see Simone Biles announcing the Leader after the 2 groups (Nika Egadze of Georgia). This powerful athlete was so gracious acknowledging the skaters’ talents she does not have!

Another happy encounter in the hallways was Maxim Naumov.  I had met him previously at the Skating Club of Boston media days – so I introduced myself in Milan. I was so happy he was able to carry his and his parents’ dream to make it to the Olympics.  He performed a beautiful skate that night even if not all of the jumps worked.

Pairs (short and free) programs.

The next two events I attended (as my medical situation was unfolding in parallel)  brought much less drama with the Japanese Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (‘23 and ‘25 world champions) winning  gold (after a bit of a struggle in the short program).  While the podium wasn’t surprising, I was happy to witness the exuberant joy of Georgians – silver finishers Anastasia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (my other interview subjects at Skate America for a Divine Sport).  This young pair aim high and we will most likely see them fighting for gold at the next Olympics!

The “memorably” disappointing moment (and collective gasp) in the pairs event came during the short program of ‘24 World champions Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps when Deanna fell on the exit of a lift they are famous for – just 20 seconds from the end of the program. At 42, Deanna became the oldest woman to compete in Olympic figure skating since 1928.  They were hoping to challenge for the podium but a head injury just days prior to Olympics put those hopes (and their participation) in jeopardy.  I consider myself lucky to witness Deanna’s long journey to the Olympics!  She came back to the sport to compete in pairs in 2017 at 34 after 17 years away from the sport (she first performed in singles).

Women’s Free Program

Finally there came the last night of  Olympic Figure Skating, the one that was memorable to me in so many ways. It was the night just two days after my emergency surgery; I was able to get last minute wheelchair assisted tickets to the event just hours after being discharged from the hospital on the eve of flying home.

And it was a very memorable figure skating night to witness with exuberant Alysa Liu being the first US skater to win a gold medal in 24 years. I already saw Alysa perform this program live several times (at the ’25 Worlds and at Skate America-25) but here at the Olympics, fueled by Olympic emotions and my own triumph over adversity, I was able to fully appreciate this performance by a girl (who would not stop smiling) in a sparkling golden dress dancing to Donna Summer’s MacArthur Park Suite.

But before Alysa skated, there was a legitimate challenge for the podium by US’s Amber Glenn (one of the two ladies performing a triple Axel jump here).  Amber stayed in the “controversial” leader’s chair for almost 40 minutes following her performance displaying true Olympic sportsmanship as she genuinely supported the skaters coming off the ice.

Sitting right above the Kiss & Cry area I will always remember Kaori Sakamoto’s (silver) tears and Alysa and Ami Nakai’s joyful embrace after they realized that they had won gold and bronze.

At the Olympics, some of the most memorable moments happen off the ice.