Having won 12 consecutive events going back to November 2023, all eyes were on Ilia Malinin at the Winter Olympics. And the American figure skater delivered in the team event, helping Team USA win gold. He carried that momentum into the individual short, but things went haywire in the free skate. Malinin fell twice in his routine and finished eighth, looking distraught after the fact. But he picked himself up, approached his competitor and congratulated him.

It was a moment that fans and critics alike loved, and so did Mikhail Shaidorov. The Kazakhstan figure skater had just won his country’s first Olympic gold medal in figure skating. And he did it by scoring an incredible 198.64 in the free skate, outdoing the favourite Ilia Malinin by some distance.

“He (Ilia Malinin) said in English, ‘You deserve it.’” Shaidorov said in Kazakh via a video on X. “In response, I told him that it was an honor for me to share our ice with him. And it really shows great respect for each other. On the one hand, we compete on the ice, on the other hand, it is a rivalry that is primarily built on respect.”

But Malinin’s actions after the loss earned him the Fair Play Award. Not only that, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) even praised the American. They weren’t the only ones who loved Malinin’s sportsmanship, as the Fair Play Award is awarded in a process that included a global public vote. It meant that fans and critics across the globe also deemed his action as the most outstanding act of sportsmanship at the Olympics.

In the aftermath, Ilia Malinin also opened up on the moment and refused to accept that it was something extraordinary. Instead, he asserted that it was just a natural reaction as “that’s how I am always”.

Ilia Malinin highlights how close the figure skating community is

And like Shaidorov, Ilia Malinin also had a lot to say about the figure skating community. Speaking to Olympics.com ahead of the 2026 World Championships, Malinin touched upon several topics. That includes his plan to win a third consecutive world title and how the pressure got to him.

And he pointed to the season so far as evidence of the kind of community that figure skaters have. The prevailing view is that athletes see themselves as rivals and nothing more. But Malinin refuted that and asserted that that line of thinking wasn’t true at all. Not only that, he expanded on the relationship figure skaters have with each other.

“We have a competitive rivalry between all of us, and it’s the reason why we like to push each other to go further and further in the sport, really bringing the level of sport up,” Malinin told Olympics.com. “We’re all human beings, so it’s really nice to you know congratulate your friends when they have an amazing skate.”

The two long-time friends will now go head-to-head once again when they face off at Worlds. The tournament will take place from March 23 to 29, with Ilia Malinin eyeing his third world title. If he succeeds, he’ll become the first person to win three in a row since Nathan Chen did it. Only time will tell if Malinin manages to outdo Mikhail Shaidorov this time.