Donovan Carrillo Concludes Milano-Cortina 2026 With Elvis Presley Routine

Milano, Italy — Mexican figure skater Donovan Carrillo concluded his Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics campaign on Friday, finishing 22nd in the men’s individual figure skating final with a free skate program set to Elvis Presley music.

Carrillo earned 143.50 points for his free skate performance, which featured a medley of Presley hits including “My Way,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “A Little Less Conversation,” and “Trouble” by Austin Butler. Combined with his 75.56 points from the short program three days earlier, he totaled 219.06 points overall.

The result matched his placement from Beijing 2022, where he finished with 218.13 points — less than one point below his Milano-Cortina total.

“There’s a lot of learning from this competition, but it also serves as a turning point in my athletic career because you can see there’s a result after two and a half years of training in Canada,” Carrillo told Claro Sports after his performance.

The skater from Jalisco noted that he became the first Mexican to land two quadruple jumps and another pair of triple jumps in an Olympic Games.

Prior to his Olympic debut, Carrillo built his career with limited support and personal effort. After his performance in China, he began receiving sustained backing from the National Commission of Physical Culture and Sports (Conade) and other institutions, which allowed him to move to Canada and change coaches with the goal of improving his Olympic performance.

“I hope the conditions I’m training under can be maintained by the institutions and sponsors supporting me, because I think we still have a lot of Donovan in figure skating, and it would be an honor and privilege to continue representing my country in important scenarios like this,” he added.

In the final, the Mexican skater achieved his best score of the season but fell short of his personal bests — 9 points below his free skate record of 152.48 and 13.61 points below his combined total record of 232.67, both set at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal.

Regarding a possible appearance at the next Winter Olympics, Carrillo said: “There are many factors that don’t depend on me, like the funding part, but if everything goes according to plan and we manage to have the conditions, I would love to have that support and continue discovering how far we can go in Mexican figure skating.”