Tengrinews.kz — The press service of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) commented on the gold medal won by Kazakh figure skater Mikhail Shaidorov.
The official Olympic Games Instagram account published a new post about Kazakhstan’s historic gold in figure skating. In the post, the champion of the Games in Italy was described as a “dark horse,” and his performance as stunning.
“Mikhail Shaidorov proved to be a dark horse on his Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026. With the 21-year-old competing against some of the most celebrated names in figure skating. He shocked the world, and himself, collapsing to the ice after a near-flawless performance. And breaking down into tears as his personal best free skate score of 198.64 was announced. Then came the realisation that he would not only win a medal, but the title. He won Kazakhstan’s first-ever Olympic figure skating gold, and the first Winter Games gold since 1994,” the post said.
It should be recalled that after the short program at the Olympic Games in Italy, the Kazakh skater was in fifth place, but managed to deliver a perfect free skate and surpass more decorated rivals.
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What is known about Mikhail Shaidorov?
The leader of Kazakhstan’s figure skating team was born in 2004 in Almaty. As a child, he began training under his father’s guidance, and in 2018 his coach became Olympic champion Alexei Urmanov.
In 2022, Shaidorov won silver at the World Junior Championships, losing only to Ilia Malinin, despite being eighth after the short program. Three years later, the story repeated itself at the senior World Championships — Shaidorov took silver, while the American skater became champion.
Shaidorov’s achievements also include victory at the Four Continents Championship and two gold medals at the Denis Ten Memorial.
On February 14, 2026, the Kazakh figure skater won Olympic gold, which became the country’s second gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympics and its first ever in figure skating.
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