10 Unforgettable Figure Skating Moments from the 2026 Winter Olympics

Photo courtesy International Olympic Committee/Alisha Lovrich

Under the bright lights of the Milano Cortina Ice Skating Arena, figure skating once again proved why it remains the emotional heartbeat of the Winter Olympics. The 2026 Games edge-of-your-seat performances, historic breakthroughs and moments so raw they transcended sport. 

These 10 unforgettable figure skating moments from the 2026 Winter Olympics will be remembered for years to come.

10. YUMA KAGIYAMA - TEAM EVENT SHORT PROGRAM

Olympic and World Medallist Yuma Kagiyama brought the house down in the team event's short program, delivering a clean skate featuring two quadruple jumps and decisively defeated reigning World Champion Ilia Malinin by over ten points. Kagiyama's performance played a major role in Japan's silver medal win in the team event.

9. LIA PEREIRA AND TRENNT MICHAUD - PAIRS SHORT PROGRAM

Canadian Champions Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud surprised everyone - most of all, themselves - by finishing third in the pairs short program. Their outstanding performance to Jessie Ware's "Say You Love Me" earned them a new Personal Best score of 74.60.

8. STEPHEN GOGOLEV - TEAM EVENT SHORT PROGRAM

Canadian Champion Stephen Gogolev said that his goal at the Milano Olympics was to "deliver two clean programs... I don't really think about the results." Gogolev's short program in the team event was the first of four outstanding performances he gave in Milano, and the results (including a second place in the men's free skate) spoke for themselves. 

7. MIKHAIL SHAIDOROV - MEN'S FREE SKATE

Mikhail Shaidorov exceeded all expectations, landing four quadruple jumps in the men's free skate and making history as the first figure skater from Kazakhstan to win an Olympic gold medal. The country had not won a gold medal in any sport at the Winter Games in over thirty years.

6. PIPER GILLES AND PAUL POIRIER - RHYTHM DANCE

"She is fierce... on the catwalk"... Canadian Champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier brought the house down with their crowd-pleasing rhythm dance to RuPaul's "Supermodel" and Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy", stealing the show and earning a Season's Best score of 86.18.

5. ALYSA LIU - WOMEN'S SHORT PROGRAM

World Champion Alysa Liu earned a Personal Best score of 76.59 in the women's short program, delivering an exquisitely nuanced and technically difficult performance to "Promise" by Laufey, choreographed by Massimo Scali. 

4. RIKU MIURA AND RYUICHI KIHARA - PAIRS FREE SKATE

An uncharacteristic error on a lift left World Champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara in a surprising fifth place after the pairs short program. Miura and Obitano rebounded to deliver an inspiring and memorable performance to music from the film "Gladiator", winning the Olympic gold medal in the pairs event by nearly ten points. Miura and Kihara made history as the first team from Japan to win an Olympic gold medal - or a medal of any colour, for that matter - in the pairs event.

3. MATTEO RIZZO - TEAM EVENT FREE SKATE

4-time European Medallist Matteo Rizzo missed the 2024 World Championships due to a serious hip injury and wasn't named to the Italian team at the 2025 World Championships. The underdog from Sesto San Giovanni delivered the performance of a lifetime in the team event free skate, earning a Season's Best score of 179.62. There wasn't a dry eye in Milano after Rizzo's performance to music from the film "Interstellar" and his skate helped Italy win its first ever medal in the team event in Milano.

2. PIPER GILLES AND PAUL POIRIER - FREE DANCE

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier's haunting "Vincent" free dance lived up to the spirit of what John Curry once said - that great performances "have to move you… have to make you feel something." After years of being consistently undermarked and underappreciated despite their artistry, technical precision, and creativity, their long-awaited Olympic bronze felt, to many, like a medal that should have been silver or gold. Yet for Gilles and Poirier, the bronze was as good as gold, because the performance itself was vindication: the culmination of a comeback story told not through scores but through emotion, beauty, and storytelling. Their "Vincent" was the free dance of the night that truly reached people's hearts.

1. ALYSA LIU - WOMEN'S FREE SKATE

I first saw Alysa Liu's "MacArthur Park" program when Skate Canada was here in Halifax last season and I knew it had the potential to be something special. Little did I know that it would propel her to the top of the podium at last year's World Championships in Boston. By the time Alysa Liu reached the 2026 Winter Olympics – Milan-Cortina, her free skate had become a signature program. Dressed in gold from head to toe, she had the audience completely in the palm of her hand - not a step out of place, not a moment wasted. The performance was joyful and unmistakably real. Her confident and charismatic skate earned her personal-best score of 226.79, and she became the first American woman since Sarah Hughes to win a gold medal in the women's event at the Olympics. Hair flip... "That’s what I’m f***ing talking about!"

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