Gold medalist in panda costume shines at exhibition gala with Jackie Chan cameo – NBC Chicago

Figure Skating’s Olympic Exhibition Gala was a time of self-expression, creativity and fun, with gold medalist Mikhail Shadorov taking it to a new level with his crowd-favorite Kung Fu Panda routine, and a cameo from Jackie Chan at the end.

The 21-year-old, who skates in a real panda costume, delivered one of the most memorable performances of the night, famously winning the gold medal at the Winter Olympics after a shocking run from top medal hopefuls including Ilya Marinin.

He competed against skaters dressed in Mortal Kombat and Deadpool costumes, then skated to a rendition of Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” as the crowd clapped, cheered and cheered with him.

Shaidlov, a movie buff who loves Kung Fu Panda, once performed a triple jump while skating in costume.

February 21, 2026. Milan, Italy. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidlov performs at the Figure Skating Exhibition Gala for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics held at the Milan Ice Skating Arena. Required Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images

“We have a lot of questions, but one of them is how do we do the triple in that costume?” Olympic gold medalist and commentator Tara Lipinski added, “Spiralizing pandas, we’ve seen it all.”

Fellow Olympian and commentator Johnny Weir added: “It was very silly, but it was very, very fun.”

As an added surprise to the wild performance, famous actor Jackie Chan appeared just off the ice and handed Shaidlov a stuffed panda as he slid down.

February 21, 2026. Milan, Italy. Mikhail Shaidlov of Kazakhstan greets Jackie Chan after performing at the Figure Skating Exhibition Gala during the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at the Milan Ice Skating Arena. Required Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images

This performance took place near the end of the gala, where skaters can express themselves on the Olympic ice without medals or scores.

Rather than performing competitive routines, the skaters were able to show a little more of their personality through a variety of music and programming, from classical music to Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” to music from the movie “Mortal Kombat.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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