Google released a new Doodle on Monday, 9 February, showing figure skating gold win at the Milan Cortina Olympics. In the head-to-head showdown on Sunday night, USA's Ilia Malinin led the country to gold by beating Japanese rival Shun Sato, securing gold for her country in Winter Olympics 2026.

After three days of intense competition, Japan bagged silver while the host nation Italy claimed bronze. Over the landmark victory, Malinin said, “We came here to do one job and we achieved it,” AFP reported. After gold title win in his first Olympics, the 21-year-old is set for the individual event.

Describing what was going in his mind moments before USA's win, he said, "I came in and said I'm the deciding factor, I just need to go out there and test the ice again to see how it feels and prepare myself for the individual event. Malinin scored a whopping 200.03 points but it was far from his personal best of 238.24.

The US team comprised of the veteran ice dancing duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the pair of Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea and Alysa Liu.

Moving to the scoreboard, the Americans and the Japanese had been neck and neck with the United States finishing with 69 points and Japan scoring 68. For the first time in the team event, Italy secured a medal and finished with 60 score with Matteo Rizzo delivering one of the best free skates of his career. Georgia secured fourth spot with 56 score.

Commending the team's support and energy during the fierce clash, he added, “I knew it was going to be a tie-breaker… and it went exactly the way I wanted. I'm so thankful for that.” In the thrilling figure skating competition, Malinin's impressive performance featured five quadruple jumps.

In the medal tally, Norway is leading with 3 golds followed by USA with 2 and Italy 1.

The 2026 Winter Olympics, also known as Milano Cortina 2026, officially began on Friday, February 6, and will conclude on February 22. The grand event is happening primarily in Italy's Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, but also include venues in Valtellina, Val di Fiemme and Anterselva.

Due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus have been banned from team competitions. Despite some calls for exclusion of Israel, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) cleared Benjamin Netanyahu-led country to participate in the 2026 Games.

The French Alps region has been selected as the host for the 2030 Winter Olympic Games.

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