Mikhail Shaidorov, winner of the 2026 Olympic Games in figure skating. Biography

Mikhail Shaidorov is a Kazakhstani figure skater who competes in single skating. He is a five-time champion of Kazakhstan (from 2020 to 2024), a four-time Grand Prix medalist and a silver medalist at the 2025 World Championships. On February 14, 2026, Shaidorov became the winner of the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and brought the first gold medal in figure skating in the country's history.

Childhood and the first steps in figure skating

Shaidorov was born on June 25, 2004 in Almaty. In 2010, the athlete began to practice figure skating under the guidance of his father, Stanislav Shaidorov, who is also a multiple champion of Kazakhstan. A few years later, in 2018, the young athlete moved to Sochi and began training with Olympic champion Alexei Urmanov. Shaidorov has admitted more than once that he became interested in figure skating after being inspired by Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu, a two—time Olympic champion in 2014 and 2018.

In the 2019-2020 season, Shaidorov won his first national title at the 2020 Kazakhstan Championship. He was later selected to participate in the 2020 World Junior Championships, but he finished twenty-second there.

Two years later, in the 21/22 season, the figure skater took second place at the World Junior Championships. According to the results of the points of the short and free programs, Shaidorov received a silver medal, losing gold only to Ilya Malinin, a figure skater of Russian origin representing the US national team.

Shaidorov's silver medal was the first for Kazakhstani figure skaters at the junior World Championships, previously the country's best result was the fourth place of Denis Ten and Elizabeth Tursynbayeva.

In 2022, the figure skater was selected to participate in the adult Grand Prix series, but he had to withdraw from the competition due to Epstein-Barr virus disease. However, he made his Grand Prix debut the following season.

Turning Professional

Shaidorov competed at the Grand Prix Championship at Skate Canada International 2023, where he took fifth place, while setting a new personal best in the short program, as well as the total points of the short and free programs. During his performance at the 2024 French Grand Prix, the athlete took fourth place and became the first figure skater in history to perform a triple axel —quadruple sheepskin coat combination.

Participation in the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan

Shaidorov performed on February 10 in the men's singles short program and took fifth place. Two days later, on February 13, the Kazakhstani figure skater performed in the free skate, demonstrating an almost perfect performance, the only mistake of which was an attempt to jump the quadruple lutz.

The rest of the program included four clean quadruple jumps, including his signature triple axel—Euler—quadruple salchow sequence. According to the results of the total points of the two programs, Shaidorov scored 291.58 points and won the gold medal, beating the season's leader Ilya Malinin.

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