Skating phenomenon Ilia Malanin hinted at serious internal conflict as he appeared to portray his struggle in the men’s Olympic figure skating final as an “inevitable crash.”
The heavily favored 21-year-old, who tumbled from first to eighth in a disastrous free skate last week, shared a video of career triumphs on Monday, interspersed with a repeated cut in which he buried his head in his hands.
“On the biggest stage in the world, those who seem strongest may still be fighting an invisible battle inside,” he wrote on Instagram. “Even your happiest memories can be marred by the noise. Vile online hatred attacks the mind and fear lures it into the darkness no matter how hard you try to stay sane under the endless, insurmountable pressure. It all builds as these moments flash before your eyes, resulting in an inevitable crash. This is that version of the story. Available February 21, 2026.”
The date may refer to his reported appearance at Saturday’s skating exhibition gala at the Cortina Games in Milan.
But his pain at not living up to the lofty expectations seems ever-present.
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In the men’s final, Malinin was all over the place after falling twice to seal his first league defeat in years.
Soon after, he was heard blaming his performance on his omission from the 2022 Beijing Olympic team. At another time he showed brazen self-possession. “I screwed up,” he said.
“The nerves were just gone, so overwhelming,” he said, later adding, “I felt like all the traumatic moments of my life were really starting to flood my mind. So many negative thoughts came in, and I couldn’t deal with them.”
In the aftermath, Malinin, who helped the US to gold in the team event, made a new post an alarming TikTok message which read, “Sometimes I wish something bad would happen to me so I wouldn’t have to do it myself.”
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If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health care. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside the US you can visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
