Ilia Malinin Addresses Olympics Pressure After 8th Place Finish

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Ilia Malinin is getting candid about coming up short at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The American figure skater, who many expected to win gold in the men’s singles competition at the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, shared his disappointment after finishing in eighth place, saying it felt terrible to miss out on a medal.

I’ve been following his career closely, and I really felt for him when he talked about the pressure on Today recently. He admitted that all the attention was overwhelming, and he realized he wasn’t quite prepared for it going into his free skate. He said if you don’t fully accept that level of scrutiny, it can really get to you, and he thinks that’s where he stumbled. It was honest and really resonated with me – it’s tough when the world is watching!

Even though the 21-year-old skater, known as the “Quad God” for being the first to successfully land a quadruple axel in international competition, felt very confident before the event, he appeared to accept the outcome and is now looking forward to future challenges.

Things didn’t turn out as planned, but I’m focusing on what’s next,” he said. “I need to learn from what went wrong and work on getting better going forward.

If Ilia competes in the Olympics again, he’ll be more ready to handle the intense competition.

Reflecting on the experience, he said he now has a better understanding of the situation and hopes to use that knowledge to prepare differently for the next Games.

After losing, Ilia—a gold medalist in the team figure skating competition—thought about the intense scrutiny he faced, especially the harsh criticism that was difficult to ignore.

He explained in an Instagram post on February 16th that constant online negativity can deeply affect your mental state, leading to feelings of fear and overwhelming pressure. He described how these experiences accumulate and ultimately lead to a breaking point, and that this post was about that difficult experience.

Ilia hinted that there’s more to come, ending his post with a mysterious announcement: “February 21, 2026.”

Stay tuned for more amazing highlights from the 2026 Winter Olympics as the Games continue!

Ilia Malinin, the U.S. figure skater nicknamed “Quad God,” surprisingly fell during his free skate performance, which resulted in an eighth-place finish.

German bobsledder Laura Nolte prepares before a training session for the monobob, which is a one-person bobsleigh race for women.

After the women’s snowboard halfpipe event, Korean snowboarder Gaon Choi took a photo with Chloe Kim from Team USA and Japan’s Mitsuki Ono. The picture was taken with a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Olympic Edition phone.

Nika Egadze, a Georgian figure skater, took a photo with Simone Biles, the most decorated Olympic gymnast, while at the men’s singles figure skating competition.

Oh my gosh, I just saw the most amazing thing! A cameraman caught Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin hugging after their second run in the women’s team combined slalom. It was such a sweet moment, you could just feel the connection between them! I can’t stop thinking about it!

Biathlete Lou Jeanmonnot of France playfully posed with the stuffed mascots, Milo and Tina, from the Milan-Cortina Olympics. She received the plushies after winning a silver medal in the women’s 15km individual biathlon event.

After completing the super-G race, skier Dmytro Shepiuk wrote a message of support for Ukrainians on a sticky note.

Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto is surprised by her score in the women’s singles free skating team event.

Speedskater Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands cried tears of joy after discovering she’d broken the Olympic record in the women’s 1,000-meter race.

China’s Eileen Gu competes in the women’s freestyle slopestyle—which earned her a silver medal.

Skater Maxim Naumov of the U.S. clutches a photo of his deceased parents after his performance in the men’s singles short program.

A composite image shows off the many tricks seen in the women’s freestyle slopestyle. 

Figure skater Ekaterina Kurakova of Poland celebrated her performance with teammates, holding up a plush pierogi – a popular and well-loved food in Poland.

No, it’s Team Austria’s ski jumper Julia Muehlbacher.

Selina Egle and Lara Michaela Kipp of Austria zoom by during the luge women’s doubles.

The figure skating team who won the event took a selfie with a special Olympic Edition of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 while celebrating on the podium.

Lindsey Vonn, a U.S. skier, showed her determination while training just days after suffering a torn ACL in a crash.

Alysa Liu, representing the United States, performs a Biellmann spin during her short program in the women’s singles skating competition.

Jennifer Dodds of Team Great Britain looked very anxious while watching the curling mixed doubles round robin match against South Korea.

Snoop Dogg,serving as an Olympics correspondent for NBC, tries his hand at curling at a practice.

Evan Bates and Madison Chock, both U.S. figure skaters and a couple in real life, seem perfectly in sync when they perform their rhythm dance.

Laila Edwards, the first Black woman to play hockey for the U.S. in the Olympics, competes against Sara Cajanova of the Czech Republic during the game between the United States and the Czech Republic.

I always love seeing those moments of sportsmanship! During the men’s snowboard big air qualifiers, it was really heartwarming to see Australian rider Valentino Guseli share a hug with Jakub Hrones from Team Czechia. It’s a beautiful reminder that even amidst competition, there’s a lot of respect and camaraderie.

Bulgarian ski jumper Vladimir Zografski hits the brakes during a training session.

I was so thrilled to watch Korey Dropkin and his team beat Switzerland in their mixed doubles curling match! He let out a huge shout of excitement after the win, and it was awesome to see all their hard work pay off.

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2026-02-17 19:47