Athleticism, artistry, surprises: This was Figure Skating at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. The spectators at the Milano Ice Arena witnessed phenomenal performances and incredibly exciting competitions during the 11 days of figure skating. The spectacular exhibition gala that featured the best and most popular skaters of the world capped it all off. 

Japan became the most successful Figure Skating delegation in Milan, taking six medals, including a historic first medal, the gold, in Pair Skating, with trailblazers Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara. Kaori Sakamoto, Yuma Kagiyama and the team added three silver medals, while 17-year-old youngster Ami Nakai and Shun Sato claimed bronze.

 Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara react after competing in the Pair Skating - Free Skating during the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in Milan Italy on February 2026 © Getty Images

Miura & Kihara sat only in fifth place following the Short Program and soared to first with their powerful “Gladiator” program, setting a new highest Free Skating score en route. 

“We felt that it was important and that we were able to bring something that we practiced so hard every day, for so long, and bring it to the actual performance when it really counted the most,” Kihara noted. “We feel like this is something that we'll continue to bring on to the next competition moving forward.”

The USA take home three medals. In the Team Event, the USA managed to edge Japan for the gold and to repeat as Olympic Champions. Alysa Liu collected gold while ice dancers Madison Chock & Evan Bates took silver. 

 Madison Chock and Evans Bates compete in the Ice Dance - Free Dance during the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in Milan Italy on February 2026 © Getty Images

“My story is more important than anything to me, and that's what I will hold dear,” Liu said. "This journey has been incredible. No matter what happens in life, I think I have a very beautiful life story, and I feel really lucky. I’m glad that now there are a lot of people watching me, so I can show them everything I’ve come up with in my head and share my stories. I want to be a storyteller.”

Hot favorite and two-time ISU World Champion Ilia Malinin saved the gold for his team in the team event but struggled with pressure in the individual competition to finish eighth. 

 Ilia Malinin performs a back-flip during a Figure Skating Exhibition Gala during the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in Milan Italy on February 2026 © Getty Images

“Now that I finally got an Olympics out of the way, and other than the obvious disappointment, it has been such an amazing time bonding with everyone, just sharing this atmosphere. It's truly an incredible place,” Malinin commented. “I'm grateful for this Olympic opportunity - and it's not the last of me.”

The remaining seven medals went to different NOCs, underlining how figure skating is growing worldwide. 

The sensational Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron of France claimed the Ice Dance gold in their first season as a team. Cizeron became also the first Ice Dancer to win back-to-back gold medals with different partners. 

“Looking back a year ago when we started dreaming of this, it's pretty incredible what we've been through and the work and the love that we've put into our training and our skating and the support that we've had along the way. We couldn't be more grateful and proud,“ Cizeron commented.

Mikhail Shaidorov was the biggest surprise in the whole competition, giving Kazakhstan its first Olympic Figure Skating gold and only its second Olympic gold at Winter Games after 1994. 

"My goal was just to show everything I can do, show a beautiful performance and show how much figure skating has grown in Kazakhstan,” Shaidorov said. “And then when I won the gold medal, I couldn't believe it."

Pair Skaters Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava made history as well with their silver medal, the first medal at Olympic Winter Games for Georgia. They competed in their first Games as a team.

 Silver medalists - Pair Skating, Anastaiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava celebrate during the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in Milan Italy on February 2026 © Getty Images

“It is a huge honor for us and I am incredibly happy that our names are the first written as the ones that won the first medal for Georgia at the Winter Olympic Games,” Berulava said.

Canadian Ice Dancers Canada’s Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier earned the bronze in their third Olympic Games as a team while Germany’s Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin skated off with bronze in their first Games together. 

To the delight of the home crowd, Italy prevailed on home ice in the Team Event, fending off a challenge from Georgia and Canada. Italy’s bronze is their very first Olympic medal in the Team Event that has been introduced in 2014. It was only the third Olympic Figure Skating medal for Italy following the bronze of Carolina Kostner in 2014 and the bronze of Ice Dancers Barbara Fusar Poli & Maurizio Margaglio in 2002.

Matteo Rizzo celebrates with his team after competing in Men's Single Skating - Free Skating Team Event during the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in Milan Italy on February 2026 © Getty Images

Aside from the medals, there were many more memorable moments. The 2022 Olympic Champions Wenjing Sui & Cong Han (CHN) staged an impressive comeback after retiring to finish fifth. By competing in Milan, Maxim Naumov (USA) fulfilled the dream of his parents and two-time Olympians Evgenia Shishkova & Vadim Naumov, that he had lost in a plane crash in January 2025. 

“I felt like I was guided by them today, feeling their presence with every glide I made on the ice,” Naumov shared. “I couldn't help but feel their support, almost like a chess piece on a chess board, from one element to another."

A total of 147 Skaters/Couples representing 34 ISU Members were entered for the Milano Cortina Games: 30 Men, 29 Women, 19 Pairs and 25 Ice Dance couples. One Man (GBR) and two Ice Dance Couples (JPN and POL) participated only in the Team Event. Three skaters competed as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN).