The 2026 Olympics only have a few days left, and three of the figure skaters that have been in the public eye the most during these games are Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu and Madison Chock and Evan Bates. On Friday, February 20, the Olympic committee made an announcement about these figure skaters.
Chock and Bates took home the silver medal in the ice dancing free skate competition on Wednesday, February 11, but some thought they deserved the gold, which has sparked controversy. Instead, France’s Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Beaudry Fournier scored the gold with a higher technical score of 77.06 to Chock and Bates’ 76.75, according to figure stating research. But, some watching thought there was favoritism and that Chock and Bates should have gotten the No. 1 spot. So, that’s made Chock and Bates big names during the event.
As for Malinin, on Friday, February 13, the Team USA skater took the ice in the pursuit of an individual gold to add. But, Malinin took a tumble in the free skate, which ended his chance for not only a gold, but he also didn’t get a silver or bronze. Instead, he ended the competition in eighth place. If he hadn’t fallen, he likely would have been a gold medal winner, according to Olympic research.
Of course, Liu won the coveted women’s individual gold at the 2026 Olympics, making her a household name. Now, Olympic Games have made an announcement about all of these skaters.
2026 Olympics Make Announcement About Team USA Figure Skaters
On Friday, February 20, the Olympic committee announced the performers for the 2026 Exhibition Gala, and Malinin, Chock and Bates are in there. So are Liu and fellow figure skater Amber Glenn.
“Mikhail Shaidorov (Kazakhstan), Kagiyama Yuma (Japan) and Sato Shun (Japan) will be on display, joined by Team USA’s ‘Quad God’ Ilia Malinin, Junhwan Cha (South Korea), Adam Siao Him Fa (France), and home favorite Daniel Grassl of Italy,” the Olympics stated in an announcement on their official website.
“Ice dance will see representation from Olympic champions Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry of France, silver medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA), as well as Canada’s bronze-medal winners Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier,” they added. “Hometown favorites Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri, as well as Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania complete the line up.”
So, all three will be there. Even if the 2026 Olympics didn’t go as planned for these three, they all won medals at the event, so they should be proud.
“It’s truly an honor to skate on Olympic ice and we’re so proud of how hard we worked to get here and deliver our very best,” Chock and Bates said on social media after their win.
They added, “Thank you to our families, friends, fellow skaters and all the fans back home and around the world for your support. We are so incredibly grateful for all of the love.”
When Is the Olympics Figure Skating Gala?
The 2026 Olympic figure skating gala is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 21 starting at 2 p.m. ET at Milano Ice Skating Arena. It will air live on NBC and Peacock.
Italian skater and Milan Cortina 2026 ambassador Carolina Kostner, who scored bronze in Sochi 12 years ago, will start the gala with a performance.
Olympics Announce News on Alysa Liu and Ilia Malinin