One of the certainties that seemed most solid in the Winter Olympic Games faded this February 13, when the American Ilia Malinin collapsed in the middle of the figure skating final, failing to complete the expected seven quadruple jumps in his routine and was left off the podium. Meanwhile, the Norwegian Johannes Hoesloft Klaebo took another step on his way to six golds.
First modification: 02/14/2026 - 03:16
The day of February 13 at Milano Cortina 2026, which closes the first half of the competition, brought the third gold for the Norwegian Johannes Hoesloft Klaebo, eighth of his career, and the victory in figure skating for Mijaíl Shaidorov, who surprised everyone in an event in which Ilia Malinin, favorite, was eighth.
Klaebo set out to repeat his 2025 World Cup feat at the Games: winning all six cross-country skiing events. And he is on the right track: three events, three golds. The third came in the 10 kilometer freestyle, with almost five seconds ahead of Frenchman Mathis Desloges.
With eight golds in total in her career, she already ties with the top winter champions in history, all of them Norwegian: Marit Bjorgen, Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Bjorn Daehlie. He has three options left to remain alone at the top of that table.
French biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet has half the gold in his life. This Friday, in the 10 kilometer sprint, he added the fourth championship to a record that includes seven Olympic and 19 world medals (five gold).
With this metal, he ties fellow biathlete Martin Fourcade as the top Winter Olympic medalist of French nationality by number, although he won six golds.
In speed skating, Metodej Jilek gave the Czech Republic its first medal in its history in the men's 10,000 meters, the longest event in the sport, and that metal was gold.
The Dutch were close to being left without a medal in a distance in which they had been on the podium in the last 10 Winter Games, all since Calgary 1988. Jorrit Bergsma, who was already first in Sochi 2014 and second in Pieonchang 2018, saved the honor for his country by taking bronze.
In snowboard halfpipe, the big winner of the day was Japan. They could not celebrate a new medal from the veteran (at 27 years old) Ayumu Hirano, who had been on the podium for three consecutive Games and was defending the gold in Beijing 2022, but they took four of the top seven positions in the table.
Yuto Totsuka (gold), Ryusei Yamada (bronze) and Ruka Hirano (fourth) were among the best in the competition. The only one who slipped between them, preventing the monopoly of the podium, was the Australian Scotty James, world champion in 2025, who took the silver.
In addition, this Friday the 13th the women's skeleton began. Although the medals will not be distributed until all the races conclude this Saturday, the event already has its first great story.
Nicole Silveira, Brazil's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, competes against her romantic partner, Belgium's representative Kim Meylemans. They met while competing in the World Cup of this sport and got engaged in 2024. At the moment, with two races held, the Belgian is eighth, while the Brazilian is twelfth.
And, after a day of rest, figure skating closed the day again with the men's individual category. It was the biggest surprise in this sport so far.
When all eyes were on Ilia Malinin's seven quadruple jump program, the American crumbled under pressure and failed in more than half, finishing in eighth place despite the advantage he had from having won the short program.
Among the ruins of his falls, Kazakh Mikhail Shaidorov, current world runner-up, took advantage of the opportunity, not failing where everyone else did to take the gold.
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