From February 6 to the 22 everyone’s favorite sport (that is for two weeks every 4 years), figure skating, takes the world by storm in the 2026 Winter Olympics hosted in Milan and Cortina. Figure skating has been a staple of the winter games since its uncharacteristic introduction in 1908 at the summer Olympics in London. This year’s events have led to many viral moments from countries across the world.
Starting with the United States, our competitors have become fan favorites online, especially the women's team “The Blade Angels” and the “Quad God” Illia Malanin. The women's team consists of Amber Glenn, Isabeau Levito, and Alysa Liu
Amber Glenn has by far had the most impactful viral moments of the three women. During a press conference held before the game started, Glenn criticized the Trump administration’s push to take away rights from LGBTQ people in the country. Her criticisms alongside her identity as a pansexual woman attracted many threats from outraged viewers. Responding to the backlash, Glenn has said, “I’m gonna keep representing what I believe in and what I think all Americans believe in, which is freedom and being able to love and do what you want.”
During her actual performance she also found herself in minor legal trouble with musician Seb McKinnon. In her free skate program, Glenn used his song “The Return”. McKinnon took to social media confused on why he was not contacted for permission to use the song. This was quickly settled, with both parties acknowledging the evolving difficulties with using music in the sport and congratulating each other on their achievements.
Youngest in the women's team is New Jersey born Isabeau Levito. After missing the age requirement for the 2022 Bejing winter olymplics, Devito makes her olympic debut during this year’s winter games. Competing in the olympics has been a lifelong dream for Levito, as she has been skating since she was three years old. Recently, a video has circulated of her when she was a toddler saying, “I skate every day so then I can go to the Olympics,” she goes further, saying “So much I want to go to the Olympics. I can be the winner ever and the whole entire day! And I need to do it so much!” After 14 years of work, representing her country on the world stage has meant “everything”. Getting to compete in the Milan Olympics specifically is especially important to her and her family, as her mother was from Milan and her grandmother lives just 13 minutes from the skating arena.
Closing off the roster, there's the crowd favorite Alysa Liu. After getting bronze in Beiijing, retiring at just 16, and then coming back to the sport on her own terms, Liu has made quite the impact on viewers. She has resonated with younger audiences, although her style is very atypical for figure skating, she fits right at home with gen z. Her iconic look consists of halo dyed hair, a smiley piercing that she did herself, and a strong link to alternative fashion off the ice. Liu has proven again and again that we never know what she’ll do next, with her teammate Isabeau saying she, “Keeps the hoes on their toes.”
In her short program, in yet another choice that made fans fall in love, she skated to Laufey’s song “Promise”. The connection between the two artists was initially started when Liu was named best dressed guest at her San Francisco show. Laufey has since come out wishing the her good luck in this year’s competition.
Everything hasn’t gone perfectly for Liu in Milan, however. Before her short program, she was almost unable to make it to the competition site due to the Vice President’s motorcade of over 12 chevy suburbans, which were completely halting traffic and blocking entrances to the arena. Many believe this cost Liu her gold medal, as after getting to the venue with just minutes to spare she was unable to do her pre-performance routine. She was still able to get a gold medal in the team event, which she promptly broke while celebrating. She posted video of her on TikTok with her broken medal saying “I Just got this Olympic gold medal, already broke it” and “My medal don’t need the ribbon.” She did get her medal replaced, with her later showing appreciation for the fix, but saying she missed her broken medal.
From the men’s team comes a once-in-a-generation skater Illia Malanin. In his career he has broken records not only being the first person to land a quad axel in Olympic competition, but also has the record of highest scoring free skate, which featured 7 quads out of the 7 optional jumps on the free skate program, which has never been done in a single program. His nickname Quad God however has nothing to do with this. The nickname, funnily enough, comes from his Instagram handle. The handle first started as “Lutzboy” which he created after his mother Tatiana Malinina who was famous for her triple lutz. After successfully landing two quads, he then dubbed himself “QuadG0d” which has followed him all the way to Milan.
Alongside his quads he has also gone viral for his iconic backflip, which has brought as much confusion as praise. The backflip is a polarizing move in skating, last being performed by Surya Bonaly. The move was banned in 1976 for being too dangerous, but over 20 years later in 1996 Bonaly performed a backflip landing on a single skate, which she was heavily criticized for, landing her in 10th place. Despite it being legalized in 2024, in an attempt to reach younger fans, controversy spread as Illia was praised like he’s the first person to do a backflip, when a Black woman did it decades before him and was penalized for it.
Recently, Bonaly herself came out in an interview with USA Today calling him a “Warrior” on the ice, and “the best skater in the world,” as well as praising him for his progression of the sport. With all eyes on him the pressure from fans might have affected his performance.
In a turn of events no one saw coming, Malanin placed 8th in the men's free skating competition after falling on two of his jumps. In a later interview he confirmed that it was a mental problem, not a physical problem. He has since teased the release of a project giving insight into his mental state during the Olympics set to release on the 21st.
Moving away from America, there were two viral moments for the Czech and Spainiard competitors. During the rhythm dance competition Czech skating partners Katerina Mrazkova and Daniel Mrazek fell under harsh criticism for their use of an AI generated AC/DC remix. Aside from the legal and environmental concerns, the use of AI goes completely against the sport as a whole. Sports Illustrated editor Mitch Goldich points out the irony of their choice, saying “This whole sport, it feels like, 90% of it is artistry and human creativity.” Many fans wonder if the use of AI should be grounds for disqualification in the competition. Although no statement has been made about that, the duo placed in 17th with 72.09 points and are not expected to make the podium.
Back in the men’s short program, Spanish skater Tomás-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté made an equally unexpected choice for his music, going for an arrangement of songs from the Minions movies. Sabaté was almost unable to perform with his chosen song due to legal issues with the use of the minion voices. After being told he wasn’t allowed to use the song, he went on social media explaining the situation and insisting that he followed all proper protocol. The issue went viral eventually reaching Universal Pictures, where they granted him the rights to use their characters in his routine. Donning a yellow T-shirt and overalls, Sabaté gave a performance that caught the hearts of viewers, but unfortunately scored just shy of placing for the men’s short program.
Each competing year both the Olympics and Paralympics have a new mascot designed. This year came the introduction of Tina and Milo, two stoats who, “represent the contemporary, vibrant and dynamic Italian Spirit.” Coming from team Poland however came an unofficial mascot for this year’s games. During the rhythm dance segment, while waiting for Sofiia Dovhal and Wiktor Kulesza's scores, teammate Ioulia Chtchetinina was spotted in the kiss and cry booth holding a plush perogi up in the air. The internet quickly fell in love with the plush pastry, dubbing it “Pieroguszki “ or Little Pierogi in English. Naturally, fans wanted a Pieroguszki of their own and tracked it down to a small shop in Katowice, Poland called Luft. The virality of the plush caused it to quickly go out of stock, with the company announcing they would be hard at work to get it back in stock, and use their newfound growth to expand their business to get Pieroguszki to all his beloved fans.
On the 19th the women’s singles program concluded with two of the top five spots being held by American competitors. At 5th place was American competitor Amber Glenn, proving her skills after her short program, with a score of 214.91. In 4th place. One of 3 Japanese competitors in the top 5, is Mone Chiba with a score of 217.88 . Next coming in 3rd and 2nd place are her teammates Ami Nakai with 219.16 points, and Kaori Sakamoto with 224.90 . Rounding off the podium, winning the first gold medal for her country in the singles category since 2002, Alysa Liu. She ended her second set of Olympic programs with a total score of 226.97 points. Since taking gold, she has teased her next performance in the Olympic Gala perfromance of a program set to “Stateside + Zara Larsson” by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson.
