As the orchestra began to swell and Hans Zimmer’s “Lisan al-Gaib” filled the arena, fans of figure skating knew they weren’t about to settle in to watch a safe classical program. Mikhail Shaidorov took to the ice at the 2026 Winter Olympics like a man channeling his inner Paul Atreides, full of desert prophecies and quiet intensity. Clad in a Dune-inspired costume and skating to one of Zimmer’s most powerful scores, Shaidorov made his program look less like a competition piece and more like a scene from a movie playing out on ice.
And honestly? It kind of worked.
“Lisan al-Gaib” routine elevated his global figure skating profile
Shaidorov, who’s already a Four Continents champion and World silver medalist, has been racking up accolades in recent years, but this program put him firmly into stratosphere territory. Using his athleticism to full effect, he told a story not just through his elements, but through his stillness between elements as he became Paul Atreides, from uncertain heir to messianic prophet.
Online, he quickly became known as the “Lisan al-Gaib of Kazakhstani figure skating.” The title stuck.
Off the ice, however, Misha Shaidorov is a far cry from a messianic figure. In a 2025 interview with Tatler magazine, he talked candidly about his early days skating at the Ramstore ice rink, his guilty pleasures, and even whether he had seen Yuri on Ice. (Spoiler alert: yes, he has, and like many other young skaters today, it was an experience.) When asked whether he considered himself a “messiah” in a more literal sense, he dismissed the idea with a chuckle.
The Tatler photo shoot, which took place inside the largest tropical nursery house in Kazakhstan, only served to further highlight the surreal juxtaposition between the young Kazakhstani figure skater and the desert epics he was associated with.
But at the Olympics, there was nothing ironic about it. For four minutes, Misha Shaidorov made the ice feel like Arrakis—vast, unforgiving, and completely under his control. And just like that, Dune had a new arena to conquer.
