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Ilia Malinin shared a series of deeply emotional social media posts, leading fans to believe he was still struggling with his unexpected eighth-place finish at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The 21-year-old was widely expected to win gold in the men’s free skate. But he fell twice and struggled to recover, making his emotions visible even on the ice.
Highlights
- Ilia Malinin was widely expected to win gold in the men’s free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
- During the routine, he stumbled multiple times and finished in eighth place.
- He later shared a series of emotional TikToks, leaving fans concerned about his well-being.
After his 14-event winning streak snapped, the youngster from Virginia shared several messages on TikTok that left fans concerned.
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Ilia Malinin shared a series of emotional TikToks, leaving fans concerned about his well-being
Image credits: teamusa
Ilia Malinin, nicknamed the “Quad God” of figure skating, entered the Winter Olympics with a two-plus-year winning streak and sky-high expectations.
But during the Milano Cortina Olympics, he stumbled multiple times during his routine and finished in eighth place.
“I blew it. It just felt so overwhelming,” the 21-year-old said, admitting it was hard dealing with the pressure of being at the Olympics.
Image credits: TNT Sports
Even though this was Malinin’s first Olympics, he was still expected to dominate the competition after winning two straight World Championships, three straight Grand Prix finals, and three straight U.S. Championships.
“All of this pressure, all of the media, and just being the Olympic gold hopeful was a lot,” he said after finishing off the podium. “It was too much to handle.”
The 21-year-old fought back tears after stumbling multiple times during his routine at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Image credits: TNT Sports
In the days that followed, the athlete shared a series of messages online that left fans worried.
“Sometimes I wish something bad would just happen to me so I don’t have to do it myself,” said the message on one TikTok video he reposted.
Another video included the words, “Your little boy is tired mom.”
Image credits: ilia_quadg0d_malinin
The Team USA figure skater also shared videos from a TikTok channel called “Healing Letters,” which shares messages written in a book.
“Nothing hurts more than trying your best and still not being good enough,” read one of the messages.
“Sometimes I wish something bad would just happen to me so I don’t have to do it myself,” said the message on one TikTok video he reposted
Image credits: oniceperspectives
One said, “When I get home and step into my room and my eyes start watering because no one knows how hard I’m truly trying.”
“No matter how hard things get just know everything will be okay,” said another reposted video.
Image credits: tonito.rt
Fans raised concerns about the champion and flooded his account with messages of love and reassurance.
“Ilia :( I Hope he is okay…” one said, while another wrote, “I love how all the illia fans are gathering here because of his reposts.”
“Four minutes does not define a person,” a third comment said. “We know your gift. Nothing can change that. The media demanded too much of your human spirit. Stay as you are!”
Fans rallied to support him, flooding his account with messages of love and reassurance
Image credits: hopeandloveeee
“YOU DID SO WELL ILIA, YOU ARE INCREDIBLE!!!!! I LOVE YOU,” said another.
“You are still a champion, Ilia Malinin One result doesn’t define your talent or your strength,” another wrote. “We’re proud of you no matter what place you take. Keep going – your time to shine is always ahead. You are the best.”
Image credits: teamusa
About half an hour after Malinin fell and teared up on the ice during the men’s figure skating final last week, he spoke to reporters about how the Olympics wasn’t like “any other competition.”
“Right before I got into my starting post, I just … all the negative thoughts just rushed into my head, and all the negative, just traumatic experiences, you know,” he told reporters.
“I’ve been through a lot and it’s not easy, so being the Olympic gold hopeful is really just a lot to deal with, especially for my age.”
The youngster from Virginia admitted feeling “negative thoughts” rush “into [his] head” before the competition
Image credits: TNT Sports
Malinin spoke about whether he would have been in a better headspace if he had been included in the Olympic team that competed in Beijing in 2022.
He was just 17 years old at the time and was famously left out, despite finishing second at Nationals.
“I think if I went to ‘22, then I would have had more experience and know how to handle this Olympic environment, but also I don’t know what the next stages of my life would look like if I went there,” he added.
“So now all I can do is just regroup from this and really just take in the information that happened and just figure out how to manage in the future.”
The results of the men’s free skate saw Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan stand on the podium’s top spot. Yuma Kagiyama of Japan settled for silver, while Shun Sato, also from Japan, won bronze.
“His confidence started to blur into arrogance, and this loss exposed that,” one commented online
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Alexia 1 hour ago
He's a phenomenal athlete, but what he lacked was a proper mental preparation on how to handle the pressure, focus on his goal and ignore everything else. Previous Olympic champions talked about this. His case reminded me of McKayla Maroney; the best vaulter in the world, had a flawless routine in team competition in 2012 Olympics (when US gymnastics team won gold). US commentators were in cloud 9: "she's unbeatable, she's 100% Olympic champion in vault and everyone knows it" etc. And what happened in the vault final? she fell on her second vault. No one is "100% Olympic champion" before the Olympic final takes place.
Jackie Lulu 4 hours ago
It wasn't just soft ice! The kind of pressure that Ilia was forced to endure was too much! The media needs to back off, and the whole figure skating scoring system needs to change.
Alexia 1 hour ago
He's a phenomenal athlete, but what he lacked was a proper mental preparation on how to handle the pressure, focus on his goal and ignore everything else. Previous Olympic champions talked about this. His case reminded me of McKayla Maroney; the best vaulter in the world, had a flawless routine in team competition in 2012 Olympics (when US gymnastics team won gold). US commentators were in cloud 9: "she's unbeatable, she's 100% Olympic champion in vault and everyone knows it" etc. And what happened in the vault final? she fell on her second vault. No one is "100% Olympic champion" before the Olympic final takes place.
Jackie Lulu 4 hours ago
It wasn't just soft ice! The kind of pressure that Ilia was forced to endure was too much! The media needs to back off, and the whole figure skating scoring system needs to change.
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