MILAN (Italy) February 13, 2026 — Stephen Gogolev (Toronto, Ont.) skated his heart out in the men’s free program segment at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games and he was rewarded for it, finishing fifth overall in his first Olympic appearance.

The crowd was electric as Gogolev weaved with confidence through his free program set to Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, earning 186.37 points and an overall score of 273.78. Both scores are a personal and season’s best for the reigning national champion.

“I think I did quite well for an Olympic debut,” Gogolev said after his skate. “I think it’s definitely a special moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I’m overjoyed with emotions right now.”

In December of 2024, Gogolev took a three-month break from skating due to injuries so for him to have achieved this level of success in such a short time is nothing short of remarkable.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “I’d say a year ago, I wouldn’t have imagined that I would be able to be here at the Olympics and perform as well as I did today, so it’s very special.”

On the podium in this event, Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov (291.58) walks away with the gold medal in his Olympic debut. Japan rounds out the podium with Yuma Kagiyama (280.06) taking silver and Shun Sato (274.90) taking bronze.

Next for Team Canada’s Olympic figure skaters, history will be made as Deanna Stellato-Dudek (Vaudreuil, Que.) and Maxime Deschamps (Vaudreuil, Que.) prepare to represent Canada alongside Lia Pereira (Milton, Ont.) and Trennt Michaud (Trenton, Ont.) in the pairs short program on Sunday starting at 1:45 p.m. ET.

For full results, click here.