History repeated itself in spectacular fashion at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, as Team USA’s figure skaters clinched their second consecutive gold in the team event—thanks to a heart-stopping finale from the aptly nicknamed “Quad God,” Ilia Malinin. Under the glittering lights of the Milano Ice Skating Arena, the Americans edged out Japan by a razor-thin margin, 69 to 68, capping off one of the most dramatic showdowns in recent Olympic memory.
With the pressure mounting and the scoreboard deadlocked after two days of fierce competition, all eyes turned to the men’s free skate—the final act in a four-part Olympic drama that included free ice dance, pairs, and women’s singles. The U.S. and Japan, both sitting at 59 points, needed a hero. Enter Malinin, the 21-year-old two-time world champion, whose reputation for quadruple jumps has made him a household name among skating fans.
“Going into the men’s free skate, I knew that it was tied. I knew that I was the deciding factor,” Malinin told reporters, gold medal draped around his neck. “I told myself, ‘This is your moment. It’s do-or-die.’ I just let the nerves go and tried to have fun. Without each other, we wouldn’t have been able to do this. It came down to the energy and support of this entire team.”
Malinin opened his program with a crisp quadruple flip, then opted for a safer triple axel over his much-hyped quad axel—a wise choice, given the stakes. He pressed on, landing five quadruple jumps in total, though not without a few hiccups. A tripled loop and a shaky landing on a planned quad Lutz-Axel combination tested his composure, but he rallied, finishing with a quad toe-triple flip and a quad salchow-triple axel. The crowd, a sea of American and Japanese flags, roared in approval as his score flashed on the screen: 200.03 points. It was a massive tally, though still shy of his personal best, but it was enough to put Team USA in the driver’s seat.
But the gold wasn’t in the bag just yet. Japan’s Shun Sato, skating last, delivered a performance for the ages. With three quadruple jumps and a program packed with technical precision and artistry, Sato earned 194.86 points—a career best. For a moment, the arena held its breath, wondering if Sato had done enough to flip the script. “Being honest, I was clinging on to hope that I could outscore Ilia … but he’s a skater on a whole other level, so I just wanted to get as close as I could to him,” Sato said afterward. The silver was Japan’s second straight in the team event, a testament to their growing stature in the sport.
The host nation, Italy, had its own reason to celebrate. Matteo Rizzo, called up for the men’s free skate after Daniel Grassl handled the short program, delivered one of the best performances of his career. Skating to an "Interstellar/Miserere" medley, Rizzo’s routine flowed seamlessly from one element to the next, earning him 179.62 points and a standing ovation. His clutch skate secured Italy the bronze with 60 points—their first Olympic team medal ever, and their first in any figure skating discipline since Carolina Kostner’s podium finish in 2014. "I think we were all under pressure because that's what team events are all about; I was just the last segment where there was no other chance after that," Rizzo reflected. "It was great and the team gave me a lot of energy and we did it."
The drama of the night was set up by earlier events, each brimming with storylines. In the pairs free skate, U.S. duo Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea delivered their best Olympic performance to date, scoring 135.36 points with a medley featuring "Sweet Dreams," "Eleanor Rigby," and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Their fourth-place finish in the segment proved pivotal, keeping the Americans in contention as Japan’s world champion pair, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, posted a career-best 155.55 to win the segment and tighten the race.
“We couldn’t be more proud to be able to perform under what we felt was so much energy,” said O’Shea, making his Olympic debut at age 34. “We walked into the day, walked into the rink with positive emotions, with an offensive attitude, and that showed out there on the ice.”
The women’s free skate brought its own share of nerves. Amber Glenn, stepping in for world champion Alysa Liu, made history as the oldest U.S. women’s singles skater to compete at the Olympics in nearly a century and the first out LGBTQ woman to skate at the Games. Glenn, a three-time national champion, attempted the most difficult jump of the night—a triple axel—becoming the only woman in the segment to do so. She spun out of her opening axel and had to improvise late in her program, ultimately scoring 138.62 points for third in the segment. “I just felt really not my best today and I’m just really disappointed in that,” Glenn told NBC, though she added, “I’m very proud of the fight.”
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, the individual bronze medalist from Beijing and soon-to-retire star, was flawless. Her 148.62-point routine pulled Japan into a tie with the U.S., setting the stage for the dramatic men’s showdown. Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova took second in the segment, keeping her nation in the hunt for bronze, though Georgia ultimately finished fourth with 56 points—and remains without a Winter Games medal.
Meanwhile, in ice dance, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, three-time world champions and Olympic veterans, dominated the free dance for Team USA. Their performance not only showcased their technical prowess but also reinforced their status as favorites for individual gold later this month. The pair’s experience—competing in their fourth consecutive Winter Olympics—proved invaluable as the Americans navigated the tense, high-stakes team event.
The team event’s conclusion marked another chapter in the evolving history of Olympic figure skating. Team USA became the first nation to repeat as champions in the team event, which debuted at Sochi 2014. Their victory in Milan also carried echoes of the 2022 Games, where the Americans were retroactively awarded gold after a Russian athlete’s doping ban reshaped the podium.
As the teams look ahead to individual competitions, the energy and camaraderie displayed in Milan will linger. For Malinin and his teammates, the night was about more than medals—it was about rising to the moment, supporting one another, and etching their names into Olympic lore. The action may have ended for now, but the legacy of Milan’s golden night will inspire skaters and fans for years to come.