American Ilia Malinin dominated the Olympic men's short program with a score of 108.16, featuring a quad flip and quad lutz. The 21-year-old, nicknamed 'Quad God,' delivered an ominously clean routine despite not landing his signature quad axel. His performance puts him at the top of the leaderboard heading into Friday's free skate.

Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, Malinin's biggest rival, sits second with 103.07 after slipping on his triple axel. France's Adam Siao Him Fa impressed with 102.55, while Italy's Daniel Grassl remains in fourth place at 93.46. Malinin's victory in the team event free skate, where he scored over 200 points, has established him as the favorite for individual gold.

The night's most emotional moment came from American Maxim Naumov, who skated just over a year after losing his parents in a Washington DC plane crash. The 24-year-old performed to Chopin's Nocturne No. 20, earning a season-best 85.65 points and securing his place in the free skate. After his performance, Naumov held up a childhood photo of himself with his late parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, both former world champion pairs skaters.