Those mischievous minions will have their Olympic moment after all.
Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabat got the final approval he needed for his music on Friday, allowing the Spanish figure skater to perform his short program — a medley in Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s animated comedy of the same name — when the men’s competition begins at the Milan Cortina Games on Tuesday night.
Sabate had been doing the fan-favorite program all season, thinking he had proper approval through a system called ClicknClear to use four cuts of the Minions music. Last week, Universal Studios asked Sabat to provide more details about the music he used and the Minions-inspired outfit he wore.
He was able to quickly get approval for two music cuts, and Sabat got a third by contacting the Spanish artist directly. The arrest was the song “Freedom” by the American musician and producer Pharrell Williams.
That approval finally came on Friday, two hours before the Olympics The figure skating program was opened with the group event.
Yuan Tian/NurPhoto via Getty Images 
“So excited to announce that we’ve done it! We’ve licensed four songs, and I’ll be skating Minions at the Olympics,” Sabat wrote on social media. “It has not been an easy process, but the support of everyone who has followed my case has been essential in keeping me motivated and optimistic these last days.”
At one point, Sabate’s condition became so dire that he began practicing a short program inspired by last year’s Bee Gee. But as word got out about his condition, and as some music began to gain acceptance, hopes of performing Minions began to rise.
He also worked on the program that opens with the characters laughing in the first session on Thursday. The next morning, the Royal Spanish Ice Sports Federation announced that the copyright issue had been resolved.
“I want to thank ClickClear and RFEDH, as well as Universal Pictures, Pharrell Williams, Sony Music and Juan Alcaraz, for managing the rights in such a short time so that I could do my program in Milan,” said Sabat.
Copyright has become a huge issue in figure skating, for years skaters were only able to use wordless music, which is usually considered part of the public domain. But when the rules changed in 2014, and the competition began to use more modern music, some artists began to object to unauthorized use of their work.
Joosep Martinson – International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty Images 
Two-time world medalist Loena Hendrickx of Belgium also ran into copyright issues before the Olympics.
The Belgian performed the short program of the song “Ashes”. Celine Dion From the movie “Deadpool 2”. But after the European championships last month, her brother and coach, Jorik Hendrickx, and choreographer Adam Solya, worried that the music would not be accepted for the Olympics, decided to change the soundtrack at the last minute.
Hendrickx is now switching up the program a bit with “I Surrender,” another Dion song that has the same rhythm and feel as “Ashes.” He was able to obtain permission for this piece because it is part of ClicknClear’s licensing catalog.
The 26-year-old Sabate is not considered a medal contender at the Olympics; last year he was 20th in the world championships. But after last week, he thinks he’ll have plenty of help when he brings the Minions with him on Tuesday night.
“Right now, I want to give everything on the ice and make a program worthy of the love I’ve received around the world,” said Sabat. “I am surprised by the love received by a small skater from a small federation.”
The opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics will take place on Friday, but some of the early stages of the competition began two days earlier. Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates rock-and-roll scored a world-best 91.06 in the rhythmic dance to open the team competition at the Olympics on Friday, cheered on by a crowd that included Vice President JD Vance and his family and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Olympic events will continue with the closing ceremony on February 22nd, followed by the Paralympic Games the following month, from March 6th to March 15th.