“IF YOU WANT the United States to win at all costs, just give them the gold medal and stop making us compete in meaningless spectacles.”
Yuma Kagiyama, top star of the Japanese team in the men’s figure skating event, accused the referee of the team event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games of cheating and intentionally ignoring Ilia Malinin’s technical errors, putting the Japanese team at a serious disadvantage despite the excellent competition. He even went so far as to insult Ilia Malinin, calling confronting Malinin “an insult to my career” and calling him a “technical cheat.”
However, the ISU (International Skating Union) and the Japanese Olympic Committee did not let the situation get worse and immediately handed Yuma Kagiyama a heavy fine with an official warning for disrespecting his opponent and publicly criticizing the referee.
This dramatic moment occurred right after the men’s short program competition in the team event on February 7-8, 2026. Yuma Kagiyama had a near-perfect performance, reaching108.67 points– her best season ever – with an excellent combination of four toes and three toes, four salchow, triple axle and footwork and high level 4 GOE spin. She beat Ilia Malinin (USA) by more than 10 points, although Malinin is still considered “Quad God” and the current world champion.
Malinin just arrived98.00 points, clearly lost in the short program, although he admitted that he only used “50% of his strength” to preserve his physical strength for the individual content. However, the American team maintained the overall lead thanks to the other disciplines (women’s, pairs, ice dance) and ultimately successfully defended the gold medal in the team event, while Japan won the silver medal.
After the team results were announced, Kagiyama couldn’t control his emotions. Backstage and in a brief interview with Japanese media, he strongly criticized:
“If you want the United States to win at all costs, just give them the gold medal and stop making us compete in meaningless spectacles.”
He also accused the referee of “ignoring Malinin’s dirty landing on the quadriceps” and “unfairly favoring the GOE for the United States, especially in the sequence of turns and steps.” The climax was a direct insult: “Playing against Ilia was a disgrace to my career. He only won thanks to the referee and the team advantage, not any real technique.”
The news spread quickly on social media, with the hashtags #KagiyamaRant and #MalininCheater trending worldwide within hours. Japanese fans are divided: one side defends Yuma because “he was treated unfairly in his personal short program,” the other side criticizes him for “being unprofessional and embarrassing the team.” American and international fans were angry, calling this behavior “arrogant” and “unsportsmanlike” from a star who once had high expectations.
The ISU and the Japanese Olympic Committee responded extremely quickly. Just a few hours later, ISU issued an official announcement:
“We have carefully reviewed athlete Yuma Kagiyama’s statements. Unsubstantiated public criticism of referees and opponents is a serious violation of the ISU Code of Conduct. Athlete Kagiyama was fined $15,000 and received an official warning. Any similar statements in the future will result in more severe sanctions, including a ban.”
The Japanese Olympic Committee also confirmed its support for the sanction and asked Kagiyama to send an official letter of apology to Ilia Malinin and the US team. Kagiyama then posted on Instagram:
“I apologize for my hasty words after the match. I respect Ilia Malinin as an excellent athlete and I have no intention of insulting him or the referee. I will learn from this mistake and focus on the next competition.”
Ilia Malinin, in a later interview, responded very politely:
“I don’t think Yuma has bad intentions. The pressure in the Olympic Games is enormous, everyone loses their temper sometimes. I just focus on competing and respect all the opponents. Thank you all for supporting the American team.”
This drama did not affect the results of the team event: the American team still defended the gold medal, Japan won the silver medal. But this caused a great “shock” in the figure skating industry: Yuma Kagiyama, symbol of Japanese humility and effort, showed for the first time his disappointment and lack of restraint in the face of a team defeat.
Many experts believe that this is a valuable lesson for Kagiyama: at the Olympic Games, technical talent alone is not enough: composure and respect for opponents are factors that help an athlete become a true legend.
And Ilia Malinin, thanks to his team victory and stable performance, has confirmed his position as the strongest candidate for the gold medal in the men’s individual event and will probably be the person with the highest expectations in the next free skate.
The “Kagiyama vs Malinin” drama is not a negative scandal, but a testament to the enormous attraction and pressure of figure skating in the 2026 Olympic Games. And with what has happened, the confrontation between these two stars in the men’s singles event will surely be even more dramatic.
