The men's free skate kicks off tomorrow, and it's hard not to think of the Olympic men's individual figure skating final as the Ilia Malinin show. 

The "Quad God," who has been undefeated for well over two years — 15 consecutive competitions — said he's been taking it relatively easy at the Olympics so far. 

"I wanted to take [the short program] a little more slowly, a little more calm, and just push the autopilot button, see what happens," Malinin said after skating on Tuesday. This came after some uncharacteristic wobbles in the team event, where he said he was affected by "Olympic excitement," and that he had intended to preserve himself for the individual event, skating at "50 percent" of his capacity.

SHORT PROGRAM RESULTS

Tomorrow, however, he is expected to hit full throttle, warning that fans can expect to witness things never before seen on ice. 

It's hard to imagine what that may be, given he has already redefined the technical ceiling of the sport. He regularly completes his signature quadruple Axel in competition, and recently landed an historic seven quadruple jumps in a single free skate, also setting a new benchmark for the highest free skate score ever, at the Grand Prix Final.

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At that competition, he rallied from a shock 3rd place short program to beat his closest competitor, Japan's Yuma Kagiyama by a stunning 29.88 points.

It's 2022 Olympic silver medalist Kagiyama — currently sitting in 2nd place after the short program — that still presents the nearest threat. The two-time Japanese champion's masterful performance and skating skills, which often rightfully earn him high program component scores, can give him a significant boost if Malinin stumbles. That's not to say that Kagiyama's technical arsenal is lacking — it's more that Malinin's ceiling blows all competition out of the water. 

The two have great respect for one another with Kagiyama saying on several occasions that Malinin at his best is nearly unbeatable, and Malinin expressing how much he appreciates Kagiyama as a competitor. 

"Just watching Yuma, I have such a huge heart for him. He's such an incredible skater, and both of us are really pushing each other to maximize our points, our skills and technical abilities on the ice. And I always say that skating is not just a sport, it's also a piece of art," Malinin said after the short program."

Rounding out the provisional podium halfway through the men's event is France's Adam Siao Him Fa, who, in September 2023, was the last skater to beat Malinin. 

However, Siao Him Fa — who has the distinction of being the reason the backflip is once again legal in figure skating — is notoriously inconsistent. When he is on, as he was in the short program on Tuesday, he is sublime. With gorgeous movement across the ice, inventive choreographic flourishes, and powerful jumping ability, the 2024 world bronze medalist is capable of delivering performances that bring the house down. But when he loses it, it can be disastrous. He will be skating his "The Creation of Adam" free skate, which has divided fans all season, but seems to evolve with each outing. 

Lower down in the rankings, a whole range of skaters have the ability to upset the podium. Italy's Daniel Grassl — who helped earn Team Italy bronze in the team event on Sunday — Kazakhstan's 2025 world silver medalist Mikhail Shaidorov, South Korea's 2023 world silver medalist Cha Jun Hwan, and Japan's Olympic team event breakout star Shun Sato, all have the fire power to make a compelling comeback. 

The 2026 U.S. silver medalist Andrew Torgashev also had a lights-out performance in the short program, and heads into the free skate in 8th place. While he typically does not have the technical content to challenge the podium, if has a repeat performance of his U.S. nationals free skate in January, there could easily be at least two American men in the top 10.

Maxim Naumov, the 3rd-place U.S. nationals finisher, also has an outside chance at breaking the top tiers of the sport, building on the emotional, deeply personal performance he gave in the short program, honoring his parents who passed away in the American Airlines Flight 5342 plane crash last year. He produced an inspired skate that delivered in both technical and component scores.

Figure skating programs actually require a considerable amount of strategy. Skaters must build a program that hits every required element while also deciding where to place their most difficult content for maximum scoring potential.

The required elements:

• Seven jump elements (one must be an Axel jump)
• Three spins
  • One spin combination
  • One "flying" spin or spin with a flying entrance
  • One spin performed in only a single position
• One step sequence
• One choreographic sequence

But the real chess match happens in how those elements are arranged.

Jump layout rules to know:

• Skaters may include up to three jump combinations — or two combinations and one jump sequence
• Double jumps (including the double Axel) can appear no more than twice total, whether alone or inside combinations
• Among all triple and quadruple jumps:
  • Only two jumps may be repeated
  • Of those repetitions, only one may be a quad
  • If at least one of the repeated jumps appears in a combination or sequence, both receive full base value
  • If both repeats are solo jumps, the second earns just 70% of its base value

And finally, the late-program gamble:

Second-half bonus

• The final three jump elements receive a 10% base-value bonus if executed in the back half of the program — a reward that encourages skaters to attempt their hardest content when fatigue is at its highest.

Watch it all unfold in the men's free skate on Fri. February 3rd at 12:45 p.m. ET, streaming on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com, and airing on USA Network and NBC.