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Following a difficult performance in the men’s free skate final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, figure skating sensation Ilia Malinin expressed feeling “overwhelmed” by the experience.
“It was just something that completely overwhelmed me, leaving me feeling like I had no control,” Malinin shared on Friday, February 13, reflecting on his surprising eighth-place finish.
He added, “Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my head around what happened. There’s a lot of mixed emotions. I felt really good going into the competition. All day, I felt solid, believing that I just needed to trust the process I’ve relied on in every competition. But, of course, this wasn’t just any competition—it’s the Olympics.”
Competing in his first Olympic Games, Malinin, 21, had previously missed out on the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, despite securing second place at nationals as a 17-year-old.
Known as the “Quad God” for his exceptional skills, Malinin was a top contender for the gold medal after leading in the short program earlier in the week. However, a series of mistakes during the men’s free skate led to a surprising eighth-place finish, dashing his podium hopes.
“I think if I went to ’22, then I would have had more experience and know how to handle this Olympic environment, but also I don’t know what the next stages of my life would look like if I went there,” he said. “So now all I can do is just regroup from this and really just take in the information that happened and just figure out how to manage in the future.”
Malinin — nicknamed the “Quad God” — was the gold-medal favorite going into Friday’s final skate, after finishing in first place in the short program earlier this week. But the free skate went awry almost immediately — Malinin fell twice during his performance and botched several other jumps.
After his performance, Malinin immediately looked disappointed, seemingly understanding the magnitude of the moment.
Ilia Malinin Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
“Right before I got into my starting post, I just … all the negative thoughts just rushed into my head, and all the negative, just traumatic experiences, you know,” Malinin said. “I’ve been through a lot and it’s not easy, so being the Olympic gold hopeful is really just a lot to deal with, especially for my age.”
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won gold in a historic victory for the 21-year-old skater, becoming the first Kazakhstani figure skater to ever win a gold medal.
Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, 22, finished with silver and Shun Sato, 22, also from Japan, earned bronze.
“I feel quite surprised by [Malinin’s] performance tonight, he had a perfect season,” Sato said of Malinin.
Fans of Team USA figure skating were left in disbelief on Wednesday, February 11, when the French pair of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won the ice dancing gold medal over Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates. French judge Jezabel Dabouis favored Beaudry, 33, and Cizeron, 31, in the free dance by a margin […]
Despite failing to medal on the individual level, Malinin helped Team USA earn gold at the team skating event, alongside Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, Madison Chock, Evan Bates, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea.
Sato — who also competed in the team event for Japan — acknowledged the difficulty in performing in both events and attributed Malinin’s missteps to the ‘toxic schedule.’
“If you think about it, he had the team competition as well as the singles, and it was a very toxic schedule,” Sato said. “It’s very bad that this happened to him.”
He continued, “He is still someone to look up to. Because of him, I’m here. I tried my best, and I want to thank him for this. I’m thankful for his presence in this competition.”