Mikhail Shaidurov unexpectedly emerged as the leader of the competition, showcasing an outstanding performance. This award is only the second gold medal won by Kazakh athletes at the Winter Olympics in history.
He also became the first figure skater in history to successfully execute a triple axel — quadruple toe loop cascade in competition.
Mikhail managed to score 291.58 points, including 92.94 points for the short program and 198.64 points for the free skate. After the short program, he was in fifth place, trailing behind all the main favorites. The silver medal was won by Japanese skater Yuma Kagiyama with a score of 280.06 points, while the bronze went to his compatriot Shun Sato, who scored 274.9 points.
At 21 years old, Mikhail Shaidurov is already a silver medalist of the 2025 World Championship and the holder of the 2025 Four Continents Championship title. He is coached by Olympic champion Alexey Urmanov, who won in 1994.
Kazakhstan previously also won a bronze medal in figure skating, which was earned by Denis Ten at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
