Figure skater Ilia Malinin blamed his poor performance Friday at the Winter Olympics on not being named to the 2022 Olympic team in Beijing.
In a hot-mic moment picked up by USA TodayMalinin waited for his score in the kiss-and-cry area and said, “Beijing, I wouldn’t have skated like that.”
NBC analyst Johnny Weir interpreted the comment as saying he would do better with previous Olympics experience. NBC Mike Tirico brought it up later on Friday in the studio in Milan with Weir.
Malinin appeared to confirm the comment when asked about it.
“I think if I had gone to ’22, I would have had more experience and would have known how to deal with this Olympic environment,” he told USA Today. “But I also don’t know what the next phases of my life would look like if I went there.”
The noted New York Post that Malinin also argued the opposite of his outburst – that the 2022 snub actually motivated him.
“To be honest, if it hadn’t been for that decision, I don’t think I would be here right now,” he says. told CBS before the match. “I feel like I would be done with skating after ’26. I don’t think I would land a quad axel or try to really revolutionize the sport by just pushing the limits of my own abilities or the sport in general.”
