Fans in Irvine cheer skaters who train locally at Olympic watch party
Fans at Great Park Ice in Irvine, CA react as Ilia Malinin competes in the Olympic Winter Games men’s free skate finals on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne and High Performance Coordinator Jacqueline Palmore take a photo with skaters and a poster of Bourne during a watch party at Great Park Ice in Irvine, CA on Friday, February 13, 2026. The gathering was for the men’s free skate final of the Olympic Winter Games. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Gordon Meng, right, joins in a watch party at Great Park Ice in Irvine, CA to cheer for Andrew Torgashev as he competes in the Olympic Winter Games men’s free skate finals on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Fans at Great Park Ice in Irvine, CA watch as Ilia Malinin reacts following the men’s free skate finals in the Olympic Winter Games on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne reacts at Great Park Ice in Irvine, CA as Ilia Malinin competes in the Olympic Winter Games men’s free skate final on Friday, February 13, 2026. Bourne choreographs for Malinin and numerous skaters around the world. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Fans at Great Park Ice in Irvine, CA cheer for Andrew Torgashev as he competes in the Olympic Winter Games men’s free skate finals on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
1 of 6
Fans at Great Park Ice in Irvine, CA react as Ilia Malinin competes in the Olympic Winter Games men’s free skate finals on Friday, February 13, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
While they couldn’t be in Milan Cortina, they cheered and showed their support like they were in the arena.
Fans gathered for an Olympic watch party Great Park Ice & FivePoint Arena hosted on Friday in honor of four figure skaters who train at the facilities competing in the men’s free skate at the 2026 Winter Games.
Ilia Malinin and Andrew Torgashev, of the United States, Yu-Hsiang “Jordan” Li, competing for Taiwan and Petr Gumennik, a Russian skater, were among the 24 skaters who advanced to the men’s free skate. While they competed, their fans in Irvine waved flags and shook pompoms and hoisted handmade signs and cutouts of their faces.