How judges scored Ilia Malinin's eighth-place Winter Olympics finish

Jason Sargent Saturday, February 14, 2026

- - How judges scored Ilia Malinin's eighth-place Winter Olympics finish

Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAYFebruary 14, 2026 at 2:03 AM

MILAN — Ilia Malinin didn't perform a gold medal worthy program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the judges were well-aware of it.

The U.S. figure skating star had a catastrophic free dance Friday, Feb. 13, with several falls and bailed jumps resulting in an eighth place finish in the men's singles, far from the expectation for the "Quad God."

With the event complete, all nine judges' scores have revealed the decisions that led to Malinin's 156.33 free skate score, ranked 15th of the 24 skaters who remained in the competition. What's notable about Malinin's scores is even the United States judge didn't give him the highest score.

Here is a breakdown of all the scores for Malinin:

How all nine judges scored Team USA's Ilia Malinin on his free skate in the men's singles event. He finished with a total score of 264.49 for eighth place overall.Judge No. 1: Nadezhda Fiodorova (Georgia) -

Technical score: 75.93

Component score: 80.76

Total score: 154.69

Judge No. 2: Christine Blanc (Switzerland) -

Technical score: 75.82

Component score: 79.09

Total score: 152.91

Judge No. 3: Tiziana Morandi (Italy) -

Technical score: 79.40

Component score: 84.93

Total score: 162.33

Judge No. 4: Laila Davidsson (Sweden) -

Technical score: 73.80

Component score: 84.09

Total score: 155.89

Ilia Malinin was the gold medal favorite entering the 2026 Winter Olympics but the self-proclaimed "Quad God" had a disastrous free skate performance, falling twice and suffering an epic meltdown on the sport's biggest stage.See the critical moments in his troubled routine.

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