South Florida figure skater Andrew Torgashev has joined the Olympic team after a second-place finish in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday.
Torgashev landed both of his quads during a clean free skate, one of them in combination with a double axel. He also one-handed cartwheeled across the ice, and he punched the air at the finish, once he was done spinning like a top in the middle of the ice.
He came in second with 267.62 points, behind Ilian Malinin, who finished with 324.88 points.
Andrew Torgashev competes during the men’s free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The 24-year-old Torgashev is the son of competitive skaters Ilona Melnichenko and Artem Torgashev of the Soviet Union. They coached him until the age of 16 at the rink in Coral Springs, the city he’s from.
Torgashev became a silver medalist at the U.S. Championships in 2025, and he earned a bronze medal at the 2024 Grand Prix de France.
In December, he had returned home for the first time in two years.
“So just wanted to remind myself where I came from and how far this journey has actually brought me,” he said.
It was all to perform at a show at the Florida Panthers Ice Den.
“My purpose of coming here is to take myself away from the competitive aspect and focus on the joy to get back to the roots of why I started this in the first place.”
It was an emphatic statement by Torgashev for his inclusion on the Olympic team.
Silver medalist Andrew Torgashev poses with his medal during the men’s free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)