American figure skater Ilia Malinin has admitted he wasn’t quite ready for the bright lights on Olympic ice at this year’s Cortina Games in Milan.
The 21-year-old ‘Quad God’, who dazzled the crowd with a near-perfect short program before a disastrous performance in the men’s free skate on Friday, told NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday that the pressure from fans and the media leading up to the event weighed on him “a lot.”
“It can really hit you if you’re not ready to fully embrace it,” Malinin said.
He continued, “So I think that might be one of the mistakes I made going into that free skate because I wasn’t ready to fully deal with that.”
Malinin said he felt “very confident” and ready to take on the “amazing environment” of the Olympic ice ahead of the performance.
“Of course it didn’t go the way I wanted, but we can’t look at that now, and all I have to do is just learn from my mistakes there and push to see how I can improve in the future,” he said.
Malinin added that he hopes to develop a “different approach” to the competition ahead of the 2030 Games in the French Alps.
Ashley Landis via Associated Press
The Team USA star’s free skate fumble – which saw him fall twice – dropped him from the favorite in the event to eighth place, where he choked back tears as he left the ice.
On Monday, he posted a message on his Instagram page suggesting he was “fighting invisible battles from within” as his fandom and anticipation for his future in the sport grew during the Games.
“Even your happiest memories can be tainted 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,” he wrote in a message with a number of highlights from his career.
“It all builds up as these moments flash before your eyes, culminating in an inevitable crash. This is that version of the story. Coming February 21, 2026.”
He appeared to tease his reported appearance at the skating exhibition gala in Milan on Saturday.
It would be “almost unheard of” if Malinin – who did not reach the podium in the free skate and is not from the Games’ host country – were to compete in the non-medal event, according to USA Today veteran sportswriter Christine Brennan.
The “Quad God” will also aim for a third straight title at the world championships in Prague next month, his agent has confirmed.
