{"id":9396,"date":"2026-02-26T00:48:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=9396"},"modified":"2026-02-26T00:48:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:48:20","slug":"when-alysa-liu-and-ilia-malinin-stepped-onto-the-ice-together-at-the-2026-winter-olympic-exhibition-it-was-meant-to-be-light-playful-a-pressure-free-encore-after-medals-had-already-been-won-and-los","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=9396","title":{"rendered":"When Alysa Liu and Ilia Malinin stepped onto the ice together at the 2026 Winter Olympic exhibition, it was meant to be light. Playful. A pressure-free encore after medals had already been won and lost. Instead, it became the moment no one has stopped replaying. From the first beat, their timing felt almost telepathic. They jumped in perfect sync, rotated with mirror precision, and landed so cleanly it barely looked choreographed. Midway through the program, they met at center ice \u2014 and when they connected in that split second, the arena didn\u2019t erupt. It rippled. A collective, breath-held wow. She was riding the high of a stunning gold-medal resurgence. He was skating through the sting of an Olympic misstep that still lingered. Two completely different emotional journeys colliding on the same sheet of ice \u2014 triumph and redemption, joy and quiet resolve. Was it simply elite chemistry between two once-in-a-generation talents? Or something deeper, forged in the kind of pressure only they truly understand? There\u2019s a clip circulating everywhere. And once you see it, you\u2019ll understand why \u2014 for all the medals awarded that week \u2014 the night quietly belonged to them."},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"relative z-10\">\n<h3 class=\"my-2.5 text-darkGrey font-group-gigantic\">Olympic Figure Skating Gala: Alysa Liu, Ilia Malinin Shine During Final Skates In Milan<\/h3>\n<div class=\"article-intro mb-4 text-darkGrey font-group-big md:font-group-normal lg:font-group-big\">Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu and more figure skating stars took the ice one final time at the Milan Cortina Games.<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-0 md:mb-9 relative mx-0\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\" data-lead-image=\"true\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_360,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fsi%2F01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fsi%2F01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fsi%2F01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 719px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fsi%2F01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fsi%2F01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fsi%2F01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 1079px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fsi%2F01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_2160,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fsi%2F01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_2160,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fsi%2F01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg 3x\" media=\"(min-width: 1080px)\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full\" title=\"The &quot;Quad God&quot; will take part in the Olympic figure skating exhibition on Saturday. \" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_254,w_3540,h_1991\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/si\/01kj0p4ejtrvgw27hwv2.jpg\" alt=\"The &quot;Quad God&quot; will take part in the Olympic figure skating exhibition on Saturday. \" width=\"3540\" height=\"1991\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-grey font-group-tiny\" data-lead-image=\"true\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-grey font-group-tiny\" data-lead-image=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>The \u201cQuad God\u201d will take part in the Olympic figure skating exhibition on Saturday. | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"my-6\" \/>\n<\/header>\n<p><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DVEqS0GjxnB\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=675&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fglobalnews79.com&amp;rp=%2Fmaiplinh%2Fwhen-alysa-liu-and-ilia-malinin-stepped-onto-the-ice-together-at-the-2026-winter-olympic-exhibition-it-was-meant-to-be-light-playful-a-pressure-free-encore-after-medals-had-already-been-won-#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1506.4000000003725%2C%22ls%22%3A1113.800000000745%2C%22le%22%3A1491.9000000003725%7D\" height=\"1059\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"viewablity-block\">\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\">The top figure skaters from the 2026 Winter Olympics performed one last time at the Games during the exhibition gala on Saturday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\">Americans Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and ice dance team Madison Chock and Evan Bates were among the stars that delivered stellar final skates while others performed more light-hearted routines, including Kazakhstan\u2019s Mikhail Shaidorov, who took the ice\u00a0in his iconic panda suit.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\">There was no judging and there were no medals on the line, just another opportunity for these superb skaters to entertain as they have done throughout the Milan Cortina Games.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\">Catch up on the final skates from Milan with\u00a0<em>Sports Illustrated\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0live blog on the gala:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u2744\ufe0fFULL M\u00e0n tr\u00ecnh di\u1ec5n c\u1ee7a thi\u00ean th\u1ea7n tr\u01b0\u1ee3t b\u0103ng Hoa K\u1ef3 - Alysa Liu\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S5d1dH-YVIY\" width=\"921\" height=\"518\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Olympic Figure Skating Gala: Alysa Liu, Ilia Malinin Shine During Final Skates In Milan Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu and more figure skating stars took the ice one&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9398,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9396\/revisions\/9398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}