Patrick Chan, Kurt Browning relive Olympic heartbreak after Malinin collapse

Patrick Chan was having flashbacks when Ilia Malinin squandered his golden opportunity in a stunning Olympic moment Friday night. Kurt Browning could relate, too.

The two Canadian figure skating legends watched with the rest of the sporting world in astonishment as the American star crashed under pressure, tumbling to eighth after a disastrous free skate.

"I felt for him. I really did. Because I was like, `Dude, I was there,"' Chan said.

"I remember when I was experiencing this moment."

Malinin entered Milano Cortina 2026 as the overwhelming favourite to capture the Olympic men's figure skating title. The self-named "Quad God" had won 14 straight competitions — untouchable for more than two years — and gold felt like a foregone conclusion.

'Quad God' Ilia Malinin proves mortal as gold medal favourite stumbles to 8th place finish

"That's the Olympics," Chan said over the phone. "Maybe the analogy is like Icarus flying too close to the sun and burning his wings a little bit, but that's sport for you.

"The Olympics is a different beast."

Chan said the moment stirred memories of his own painful near-miss at the 2014 Sochi Games.

The three-time world champion needed only a solid free skate to win gold after rival Yuzuru Hanyu put down a mistake-filled program. But Chan followed with an error-riddled routine of his own and settled for silver, a moment that "still lingers" in his memory.

Browning, meanwhile, was the heavy favourite at the 1992 and 1994 Games, but fell in both his short programs and missed the podium entirely.

"I am one of the few people in the world who knows what it's like to go on the Olympic ice, and not have it go your way," said the four-time world champion, who's calling figure skating on the CBC's