U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin is the recipient of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics Fair Play Award “for his display of profound sportsmanship” after the men’s singles competition, according to the IOC.
Malinin, after dropping from first to eighth place after the free skate, immediately embraced gold medalist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan.
“I went up to him, and I congratulated him, because watching him skate, I watched him in the locker room and just so proud of him,” Malinin said that night. “I heard that he had not a good season. All of us were there to support each other, be there for each other. That’s what’s so special about the sport as well, is everyone has each other’s support. And I feel like we’re all a big, huge figure skating family. I think people forget that when they see us competing against each other. They think that we’re very rivalry and there’s not good connections, but it’s the complete opposite. There’s always joy, there’s always motivation, encouragement, a lot of different emotions. This is why I love the passion of figure skating.”
The first Fair Play Award went to Italian bobsledder Eugenio Monti at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Games. During the two-man competition, Monti provided a replacement bolt to British rivals Tony Nash and Robin Dixon after their sled was damaged. Nash and Dixon ultimately took gold. Monti won bronze, one of his six Olympic medals.
“I am deeply humbled to receive this honor, especially given the incredible legacy of Eugenio Monti here in Italy,” Malinin said, according to the IOC. “Congratulating Mikhail wasn’t about the results; it was about the shared journey we take as athletes. Knowing that fans worldwide connected with that moment means more to me than any medal.”
Malinin earned the award after a process that included a public vote.
The other finalists, chosen by an international group, were U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn, the Italian and American women’s curling teams, the Canadian women’s hockey team, Czech mixed doubles curler Julie Zelingrova and Japanese figure skater Yuma Kagiyama.
Malinin is next expected to compete at the World Championships in three weeks in Prague.
