Figure skater Ilia Malinin was sent crashing back to earth at the 2026 Winter Olympics as he settled for eighth place in the men's figure skating competition, where he entered as a heavy favorite. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won the gold medal, while Japan's Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato claimed the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
"The Quad God," as he calls himself, admitted post-competition that the pressure got to him.
"Usually, I feel like I'm in control and everything just lines up where it should be," he said in an interview with the Today show.
"But that time, it really just felt like it was speeding ahead of me, and I didn't have time to catch up and get back together."
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Malinin succumbed to the pressure, but America's greatest athletes would not allow him to dwell on it for long. The 21-year-old said he received messages of support from some of the most decorated athletes in various sports, including Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, figure skating legend Simone Biles and NFL legend Tom Brady.
"I'm honestly just so honored for that, and I feel like it just made my day, honestly."
Although he came up short in the individual event, Malinin will not go home empty-handed, as he and Team USA captured gold in the figure skating team event. This is his first Olympics, and he is expected to bounce back in future editions.
He said he knows what it feels like to compete on the world stage now, and that he can use the experience to take a "different approach leading up to the next Games, hopefully."