2026 Winter Olympics men figure skating: How to watch Ilia Malinin in free skate final live for free today

MILAN, Italy — The stage is set for the most anticipated six minutes of the 2026 Winter Olympics figure skating competition. At 12:45 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Feb. 13, the men’s free skate final begins on USA Network before shifting to NBC at 3 p.m., and every revolution of Ilia Malinin’s blades could decide whether the United States leaves with gold.

Malinin, 21, carries a 5.09-point lead over Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama after posting a short-program score of 108.16, built on a towering technical elements mark of 62.35. The Virginia native—already the only man to land a fully rotated quadruple axel in sanctioned competition—needs only to stay on his feet to become the Quad God crowned as Olympic champion.

Yet the chase pack is hardly conceding. Kagiyama, the 2022 Beijing silver medalist, outscored Malinin in the team-event free skate earlier in the Games and sits second with 103.07 points. France’s Siao Him Fa, third at 102.55, owns the quads to slip past either favorite if pressure bends their knees.

Cord-cutters have multiple no-cost avenues to watch the drama unfold. DIRECTV Stream offers a free trial that carries both USA and NBC, while Sling TV is promoting day passes as low as $4.99. Peacock also streams the final live for subscribers. Viewers should note that Fubo is not an option: the service remains locked in a carriage dispute with NBCUniversal, leaving USA and NBC dark on its platform.

Terry Gannon will call the action alongside Olympic champion Tara Lipinski and three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir, with ice-dance analyst Tracy Wilson and reporter Andrea Joyce adding context from rinkside.

For Malinin, the task is simple—land the jumps that no one else can, and the first U.S. men’s figure-skating gold since 2010 is his. For Kagiyama and Fa, the mission is just as clear—wait for the slightest opening, then pounce. In a sport decided by hundredths of a point, the difference between triumph and heartbreak is often a single toe pick.