It’s come down to this moment.
On February 13th, Ilya Marinin, often referred to as the Quad God, will skate in hopes of securing an Olympic gold medal in the men’s figure skating free skate category.
He finished the short program in the lead, boasting a five-point advantage over Japan’s Yuma Kagayama, accomplished through his performance that featured two quad jumps: a quadruple Lutz and a quadruple flip, along with a backflip.
Will he attempt a quad axel during the Olympic event? That remains unclear, but we should find out soon enough. The quad axel is recognized as the toughest jump in figure skating, and Marinin is the only athlete to have ever executed it in competition.
“I hope I feel good enough to try it that day,” he mentioned following his short program performance. “Of course, health and safety come first. I really believe if I can stay in the right mindset, I’ll be able to approach it with confidence, without pushing things too far.”
The men’s free skate is scheduled for February 13th at 1:00 PM ET at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy.
If Marinin keeps his lead, he’ll join an exclusive club as the third U.S. male skater to win an individual gold this century; he’ll follow in the footsteps of Evan Lysacek in 2010 and Nathan Chen in 2022.
All members of Team USA have qualified for the free skate, with Maxim Naumov finishing in 11th place and Andrew Tolgashev in 17th place.
Men’s Free Skate Start Time
The event’s start is set for 1 PM ET, with initial broadcasts on USA Network and then switching to NBC for the subsequent performances at 3 PM ET.
How to Watch Olympic Figure Skating for Free
If you’re without cable, you can check out various live TV streaming services. Personally, I think DIRECTV is a great option for watching live TV with a five-day free trial available. Plans include both USA Network and NBC starting from $69.99 per month.
Men’s Free Skate Start List
The order for the free skate is based on the short program scores, with the leader performing last. Here’s the lineup along with their respective Rhythm Dance scores:
- Yushan Li (CHN) – RD Score: 72.41
- Donovan Carrillo (Mexico) – RD Score: 75.56
- Yoshio Miura (JPN) – RD Score: 76.77
- Vladimir Samoilov (POL) – RD Score: 77.57
- Adam Hagala (SVK) – RD Score: 80.30
- Lukas Bryczgi (SUI) – RD Score: 80.87
- Alexander Serevko (EST) – RD Score: 82.02
- Denis Vasilievs (LAT) – RD score: 82.44
- Matteo Rizzo (ITA) – RD Score: 84.30
- Nika Egaze (GEO) – RD Score: 85.11
- Maxim Naumov (USA) – RD Score: 85.65
- Boyang Jin (CHN) – RD Score: 86.55
- Petr Gumennik (AIN) – RD Score: 86.72
- Kyrillo Marsak (UKR) – RD Score: 86.89
- Stephen Gogolev (CAN) – RD Score: 87.41
- Shun Sato (JPN) – RD Score: 88.70
- Andrew Tolgashev (USA) – RD Score: 88.94
- Kevin Amos (FRA) – RD Score: 92.64
- Cha Junhwa (Korea) – RD Score: 92.72
- Mikhail Shaidlov (KAZ) – RD score: 92.94
- Daniel Grassle (ITA) – RD Score: 93.46
- Adam Hsiao Him Fa (FRA) – RD Score: 102.55
- Yuma Kagayama (Japan) – RD Score: 103.07
- Ilya Marinin (USA) – RD Score: 108.16
Upcoming Figure Skating Events in the 2026 Olympics
- Men’s Singles – Free Skate – February 13th 1:00 PM ET*
- Pairs – Short Program – February 15th 1:45 PM ET
- Pairs – Free Skate – February 16th 2:00 PM ET*
- Women’s Singles – Short Program – February 17th 12:45 PM ET
- Women’s Single – Free Skate – February 19th 1:00 PM ET*
- Exhibition Gala — February 21st 2:00 PM ET
*Medals will be given during these events.
When Are the Winter Olympics Concluding?
The 2026 Winter Olympics will wrap up with a closing ceremony on February 22nd at 2:30 PM ET.
