The Winter Olympic Games in Milan Cortina came to a close on Feb 22 after their Opening Ceremony on Feb 6. It was a very entertaining Olympic Games filled with well-deserved wins, highly anticipated duels, and some very surprising upsets. This is focused on the Figure Skating events of these Olympic Games.
As one of the most anticipated sports in the Winter Olympics, figure skating is competed as both an individual and team sport and has a lot to do with not only an athlete’s skills but their artistry, mental health, and consistency. You get one shot at your short program and free skate, for a combined score based on tricks and artistry to get you on the podium. For the United States, we had two athletes who entered the competition with high expectations and reputations as champions, Alysa Liu and Ilia Malinin.Â
Liu’s return to figure skating was highly anticipated as she was a rising prodigy as a young teenager, and then took a break, only to return in 2024. At these Olympic Games, she was one of the most recognizable women representing the USA with her striking hair and smiley piercing. She was unique and insanely talented. During the team event, Alyssa skated a beautiful short program that aided the U.S. in bringing home a gold medal in the team event. Her individual event was even better. She skated a perfect free skate, landing each jump with precision and looking exceptionally graceful while doing it. My jaw was literally on the ground in awe watching her. It was spectacular. Skating off the ice, she dropped an iconic line, “That’s what I’m f*cking talking about.” She knew she had skated near perfection on that ice. She brought home a gold medal in the individual event. When asked about her mindset, she said she just wanted to show her art, that’s all; she didn’t care how she did, she just wanted to perform her art.Â
Malinin’s time on the ice went differently. Malinin is widely known for pushing the limits for jumps in figure skating, nicknamed the “Quad God”, after his ability to land seven quads in one free skate, including the quadruple axel. He is the only person to ever land a quad axel in competition history. In the team event, the U.S. was on the brink of getting gold; they needed one thing, though, after Amber Glenn’s shaky free skate to secure it: Malinin’s perfect free skate. He did just that, completing his routine, featuring a backflip; his free skate was a major reason the U.S. was able to win gold in this event. His individual free skate event was next; it was built around his ability to land several quad jumps, and it was almost a lock for him to take home the gold medal in the individual event. It was said he may only need to land three or four of these quads to secure his gold. That was it. It should’ve been something he could’ve done in his sleep. However, that’s not how this event went. After falling twice and being unable to complete quads, including just the one axel, not the quad, he ended up placing 8th. It was disastrous. I remember sitting there with my jaw on the floor in shock, my heart in my stomach, and just this sick feeling watching him finish the skate. He immediately broke down and had a defeated look on his face. The projected gold medalist finished 8th. He spoke on it, saying that maybe it was because he felt confident that he was too sure of himself and therefore wasn’t as careful as he needed to be.Â
Ultimately, I think that the expectations and results of both of these athletes is very telling. It represented the weight of the world on their shoulders and how each of them responded to it. The hours of training over the years boiled down to four minutes on the ice. I can’t imagine how it felt for Malinin to skate off the ice, knowing he could’ve done better, having his heart broken, or the triumph and success that Liu felt. It goes to show that expectations and reality for these athletes is a factor in their success, they aren’t invincible, and while they both brought home golds in the team event, they responded differently in the individual event. They’re human too, it is okay to make mistakes and maybe we will see them both take home gold in the Winter Olympics in 2030.