Scroll down to the end of the article to watch highlights from Ilia Malinin’s Olympic free skate.

Ilia Malinin Left Searching for Answers After Shocking Eighth-Place Finish at 2026 Winter Olympics

Ilia Malinin walked into the men’s figure skating final at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics as one of the favorites for gold. He walked out in tears.

The 21-year-old American star stunned spectators after falling twice during his free skate and failing to complete multiple planned technical elements. When the scores were announced — 156.33 for the free skate and 264.49 overall — Malinin found himself in eighth place, far from the podium many had expected him to claim.

“I Haven’t Been Able to Process It”

Roughly 30 minutes after leaving the ice, Malinin faced reporters, still visibly shaken.

“Honestly, I still haven’t been able to process what just happened. It’s a lot of mixed emotions,” he said. “Going into this competition, I felt really good. This whole day, I felt very solid, and I just thought that all I needed to do was go out there and trust the process that I’ve always been doing with every competition. But of course, it’s not like any other competition — it’s the Olympics.”

Malinin admitted that once the program began, he felt something shift internally.

“It was really just something that overwhelmed me, and I just felt like I had no control,” he explained.

Pressure, Ice Conditions, and Negative Thoughts

When asked whether nerves or ice conditions played a role, Malinin acknowledged that the ice may not have been ideal for his preferences. However, he ultimately pointed inward.

“Right before I got into my starting pose, all the negative thoughts just rushed into my head,” he said. “All the negative, just traumatic experiences… I’ve been through a lot and it’s not easy. Being the Olympic gold hopeful is really just a lot to deal with, especially for my age.”

The candid admission offered a rare glimpse into the psychological toll elite athletes carry — particularly those labeled as favorites on the sport’s biggest stage.

Looking Back — and Ahead

Malinin was also asked whether competing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics might have better prepared him for this moment. At 17, he narrowly missed making that Olympic team despite finishing second at U.S. Nationals.

“I think if I went to ’22, then I would have had more experience and know how to handle this Olympic environment,” he reflected. “But I also don’t know what the next stages of my life would look like if I went there. So now all I can do is regroup from this and really take in what happened and figure out how to manage it in the future.”

Just days earlier, Malinin had helped secure team gold for the United States with a dramatic performance. That contrast made the final result even more difficult to absorb.

A Hard Lesson on the Biggest Stage

Figure skating is a sport of razor-thin margins, where preparation meets pressure under unforgiving lights. For an athlete nicknamed the “Quad God” for his technical dominance, the night was a reminder that even the most prepared skater is still human.

Though the result fell far short of expectations, Malinin’s openness afterward revealed resilience. At 21, he has time — and the talent — to return stronger.

For now, he is left processing a night that did not unfold as planned. The journey forward, he says, begins with understanding what happened — and learning from it.

Watch Highlights from the Men’s Free Skate