The minions have reached the Winter Olympic Games 2026 after a dispute over music rights almost forced Spanish figure skater Tomas-Llorenco Guarino Sabate to change his plans.

Sabate donned his yellow and blue costume and brought the mischievous spirit of Minions to Milan in the men’s short program on Tuesday.

“It felt amazing” despite the nerves and the early mistake, Sabate said after his performance to a soundtrack that begins with the roar of laughter from the lovable child characters, who are introduced as henchmen of criminal mastermind Gru in “Despicable Me.”

Although the 26-year-old finished 25th out of 29 skaters, one spot short of qualifying for Friday’s free skate, the Spaniard says he is grateful for the support. In dozens of Instagram stories, Sabate shared messages he received from around the world, including from a former U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon who posted a photo of himself wearing Minion socks.

Sabate said the Minions were a way for him to express himself “even though I’m a little shy at first”, and the dispute showed how much support he really has.

Sabate performed the fan-favorite program all season, thinking he already had the proper approval. That all suddenly changed last week when he discovered he had been told he couldn’t use the music.

“When I was working on my post, I was sure I wasn’t going to do Minions,” he said on Tuesday. “That’s why I made the post, as a way to warn people, whoever is expecting Minions at the Olympics, ‘I’m sorry, but don’t, unfortunately it’s not going to happen’. I can’t expose myself to a lawsuit.”

He was stunned by the outpouring of support on social media as he tried to convince people like Universal Studios and musicians and producers Pharrell Williams to grant him the rights to skate to a medley of music related to the Minions, who have since appeared in several “Despicable Me” sequels and their own spinoffs. The final approval came by friday.

The rights to the Minions character belong to Universal Studios, which is part of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. NBC, which broadcasts the Olympics, is also part of NBCUniversal.

“I wasn’t aware of the reach that my skating had even outside of the figure skating world, and it helped me realize how far I’ve come, how far skating has taken me,” he said.

How much it will sink after the Olympics.

“I haven’t really had time to take everything in and appreciate everything,” he said.

The International Skating Union began allowing music with vocals in 2014. More skaters have been choosing more modern songs for their performances since the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, but this has also led to other skaters facing similar issues.

Petr Gumennik from Russia, competing as a neutral athletehad to change the music for his short program due to rights issues at the last minute. He dropped the music from “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,” a psychological thriller, replacing it with a song from a Russian romantic epic. Even the American champion Amber Glenn had a copyright tussle with a Canadian artist.

What’s next for Sabate? He answered many messages from fans. There are probably more on the way.

“I want to be the person who responds to their fans,” he said. “They take time to write to you, and I want to take time to answer.”

The Olympic events are scheduled to continue until the closing ceremony on February 22, with the Paralympic Games taking place next month, from March 6 to 15.