Over the weekend, two Northern Virginia Olympians — Nokesville’s Mystique Ro and Fairfax’s Brandon Kim — competed in Italy.
Kim had already competed in the Men’s 1,000-meter and Mixed Team Relay races on Wednesday, February 10. He hit the track for his final two disciplines of the games. On Saturday, February 14, the Fairfax native competed in the Men’s 1,500 meter. Kim finished second in his quarterfinal heat with a time of 2:16.154, just .266 seconds behind Canada’s Steven Dubois. In the semifinals, the skater placed third in his heat with a time of 2:15.817 seconds. That qualified him for Final B where he finished in sixth.
After a day of rest, the 24-year-old was back on the track for the 500-meter race. On the final lap of his heat, Kim collided with Uzbekistan’s Daniil Eybog and Ukraine’s Oleh Handei. He was assessed a penalty that kept him from advancing into the quarterfinal round.
On Saturday, Ro raced in the final two heats of the women’s individual skeleton event. After starting the day in 17th place, the 31-year-old was able to climb two spots to finish at 15th.
Then, on Sunday, the Nokesville native joined teammate Auston Florian to compete in the Skeleton Mixed Team event. Ro finished her run at just over 1:01, while Florian came in with a time of 59.31 seconds, putting their team in seventh place — the top placing duo for Team USA.
Ilia Malinin’s Olympics aren’t over quite yet. Malinin is set to perform in the exhibition gala on February 21. During the gala, the world’s top skaters put on a performance for the audience that showcases their style and personality, without judges.
After the Olympics close, Malinin will look to redeem his individual performance at the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague starting March 23. The Quad God will defend his title after winning gold at the world championships the last two years.
February 13, 2026: Ilia Malinin’s Individual Gold Medal Dreams Fall Short
In a surprising turn of events, Vienna-based skater Ilia Malinin will not come home from Milan with an individual Olympic medal.
Malinin took to the ice on Friday in first place after the short program. But a series of errors in the men’s free skate portion of the competition cost him 70 technical points and knocked him off the podium. He finished in 8th place.
“I was not expecting that. I felt like going into this competition, I was so ready. … But I think maybe that might have been the reason. That maybe I was too confident that it was gonna go well. So, you know, honestly, it’s happened. I can’t process what just happened,” Malinin told NBC’s Andrea Joyce.
He said that the basis of the errors were “defiantly mental” and said of the Olympic competition, “It’s crazy. It’s not like any other competition.”
He also told Joyce that he hopes to learn from this experience. “Yeah, I think obviously I should take, you know, the stuff that I learned from here and really just improve it, or, you know, use it … to see what I can do in the future for this to not happen.”
Mikhail Shaidorov from Kazakhstan won the gold. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama won silver, and Shun Sato, also from Japan, took home the bronze.
Earlier in the day, Prince William County graduate Mystique Ro competed in two heats for skeleton. Ro finished in 17th place in both of her runs. The final two heats determining the medal winners will be held on Saturday, February 14.
February 10, 2026: Ilia Malinin Finishes in First in the Short Program
After securing a gold medal for Team USA in the figure skating team event, Vienna’s Ilia Malinin was back on the ice on Tuesday to compete for a medal in the men’s single skating contest. Malinin sits in first place after the first day of performances.
The 21-year-old, known as the Quad God, was able to land all three of his jumping passes earning a total score of 108.16 points – which was 10.16 points higher than the score he received during the short program in the team competition.
“At first coming to the Olympics, I thought that I could just take it the same way I would any competition,” Malinin said when talking to NBC’s Andrea Joyce after the short program. “But in the end, sometimes it really just still overwhelms you, and I definitely felt that in the team short program. So going into this individual event, I decided to try a different strategy. Really just try to calm things down and not get too excited, and knowing that my job here is to just get on there, enjoy my time on the ice, and really just try as hard as I can.”
Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, Italy’s Daniel Grassl, and Kazakhstan’s Mikahil Shaidorov round out the top five heading into the free skate.
Two other skaters from Team USA also competed on Tuesday. Florida’s Andrew Torgashev is currently in eighth place after scoring 92.64 and Connecticut’s Maxim Naumov, who lost his parents in the American Airlines crash at Reagan National Airport in 2025, is in 14th place with a score of 88.94. Only the top 24 skaters from day one will qualify to compete in the free skate.
Malinin hits the ice again on Friday, February 13, to compete in the free skate. Instead of watching the games from your couch (or sneaking a peek at your desk), fans can join watch parties at George Mason University and SkateQuest to cheer on the Vienna native. George Mason will be setting up TVs at Mason Square in Fuse Room 1311 starting at 1 p.m. SkateQuest’s watch party will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. and registration is required to attend.
Brandon Kim Makes His Olympic Debut
Sixteen years after being introduced to speed skating, Fairfax native Brandon Kim competed in the men’s 1,000 meter and the mixed team relay short track speed skating competitions.
Kim’s day started with the 1,000 meter race. Skating in heat 8, the 24-year-old was up against Poland’s Michal Niewinski, China’s Long Sun, and Latvia’s Roberts Kruzbergs to qualify for the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, Kim was given a penalty, ending his run for an individual medal.
Later in the day, he joined teammates Kristen Santos-Griswold, Corrine Stoddard, and Andrew Heo for the team competition. The skaters placed second in their heat, behind the Republic of Korea to move onto the semifinals. When up against Canada, Belgium, and the Republic of Korea; Team USA finished in fourth in their semifinal heat, qualifying them for Final B where they finished in fourth.
February 9, 2026: Ilia Malinin Helps Lead Team USA to Gold Medal
Vienna native Ilia Malinin was able to secure a gold medal in his Olympic debut over the weekend.
The 21-year-old played a pivotal role in the Team USA’s gold medal victory. Malinin participated in the team event — where skaters in four disciplines (men’s singles, women’s singles, pairs, and ice dance) compete to secure the most combined points.
Going into the final event — the men’s free program — Team USA was tied with Japan at 59 points. Malinin skated second to last in the event. He earned a final score of 200.03 points without including his well-known quadruple axel. Japan’s Shun Sato closed the event with a career-best performance that earned him 194.86 points.
“All of us put our heart and soul into this and without each other we wouldn’t have done it,” Malinin said. “I went in there knowing it was going to be a tiebreaker in the men’s event. I went straight into this, and it went exactly as planned. I’m so thankful for that. … It came down to the energy, the support and passion from my whole team.”
Team USA is the first figure skating team to win consecutive Olympic golds in the event. And the only country to medial in every Olympic event since the competition was created in 2014.
Malinin also skated in the men’s short program on Saturday. He finished in second place with 98 points behind Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama.
Malinin heads back on the ice on Tuesday, February 10, for the short program of the men’s single skating competition. Medals will be awarded on Friday, February 13 after the free skate competition.
February 4, 2026: Ilia Malinin and Other NoVA Athletes Go for Gold in the 2026 Winter Olympics
The Winter Games officially kick off on February 6. And, for one local athlete, it’s been a long time coming. Vienna native Ilia Malinin is set to hit the ice in Milan, Italy, in both the figure skating team event and men’s single skating competition. Malinin has been breaking records and wowing judges for nearly four years — and the same is expected during the Olympic competition. Get to know him before he hits the Olympic ice, along with other current and past NoVA Olympians.
- On September 15, 2022, Malinin became the first ice skater to land a quadruple axel in competition.
- Malinin was chosen as a first alternate on the U.S. Men’s Figure Skating team during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
- Both of Malinin’s parents — Tatyana Malinina and Roman Skornayakov — were Olympic figure skaters for Uzbekistan.
- Malinin lived up to his “Quad God” nickname when he became the first figure skater to land seven quadruple jumps in a single program at the December 2025 ISU Grand Prix Final.
- The skater won back-to-back ISU World Figure Skating Championships in 2024 and 2025.
- Even Washington Capitals’ captain Alex Ovechkin is taking note of Malinin’s performance. The ice skater told reporters that Ovechkin gifted Malinin a pair of his iconic yellow skate laces and plans to wear them throughout the games.
Other NoVA Athletes Competing at the Winter Olympics
Brandon Kim
Hometown: Fairfax
Sport: Speedskating, short track
When to Watch: Various dates February 10 to 20
Kim was first introduced to speedskating during the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Sixteen years later, the Fairfax native is set to make his Olympic debut in the same sport.
Mystique Ro
Hometown: Nokesville
Sport: Skeleton
When to Watch: February 13 to 15
A graduate of Prince William County’s Brentsville High School, Ro was named to the Olympic Skeleton team in January, just 10 years after starting her skeleton career.
Past Winter Olympians from NoVA
Ashley Caldwell
Hometown: Ashburn
Sport: Freestyle skiing, aerials
Olympic Years: 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
Maame Biney
Hometown: Reston
Sport: Speedskating, short track
Olympic Years: 2018, 2022
Garrett Roe
Hometown: Vienna
Sport: Men’s ice hockey
Olympic Year: 2018
Mike Kohn
Hometown: Chantilly
Sport: Bobsled
Olympic Years: 2002, 2010
Feature image of Brandon Kim at the 2026 Olympics courtesy Orange Pics BV/Alamy Stock
This story originally ran in our February issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
