At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, dramatic shifts unfolded across marquee events, highlighted by a stunning upset in men’s figure skating and a historic gold medal for Australia in the debut dual moguls competition.

American figure skating favourite Ilia Malinin, widely known as the “Quad God” for his unprecedented mastery of quadruple jumps and a central figure in the sport’s evolution, suffered an uncharacteristic collapse during the men’s free skate.

Despite entering the event as a leading contender — and after guiding the United States to team event gold earlier in the Games — Malinin made multiple critical errors, including falls and a failed quad axel attempt, leaving him outside the podium positions in a final that saw Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov claim the Olympic title.

Malinin’s result marked one of the most surprising outcomes in recent figure skating history and underscored the intensity of Olympic pressure on even the sport’s most technically gifted athletes.

In contrast, Australia’s Jakara Anthony delivered a commanding performance in the women’s dual moguls event — contested for the first time at an Olympic Games.

Anthony advanced through successive head-to-head heats with measured precision and speed before defeating American skier Jaelin Kauf in the big final, securing gold with a superior score.

The victory made Anthony the first athlete to win two Olympic gold medals in Winter Games history for Australia, adding to the nation’s growing success in freestyle skiing.

Kauf captured silver in the event, while another American, Elizabeth Lemley, earned bronze.

The dual moguls triumph contributed to Australia’s most successful Winter Games campaign on record, further bolstered by other strong performances from the Australian team.

The contrasting fortunes of Malinin and Anthony on this day highlighted both the unpredictability and the evolving competitive depth of the Winter Olympics, with individual brilliance and historic national achievements sharing the spotlight.