Stephen Gogolev reacts with his team after performing during the the men’s short program.Amanda Perobelli/Reuters
Canada’s Stephen Gogolev made a memorable Olympic debut with a third-place finish in the men’s short program of the Milano Cortina team event – a moment that once felt far from guaranteed during years of injuries after a major growth spurt.
The 21-year-old, dressed in suit and tie and skating to music from “Mugzy’s Move” by American swing band Royal Crown Revue, landed two gorgeous quadruple jumps to finish third behind Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Ilia Malinin of the U.S.
Gogolev’s long-awaited Olympic debut comes after he had considered walking away from the sport.
“There were…