Ilia Malinin, a 21-year-old American figure skater, entered the 2026 Milan Olympics as the overwhelming favorite to win individual gold in men's singles. He had been unbeaten in 14 events over two years and is the only skater to successfully land a quadruple axel in competition.
After winning the short program, Malinin struggled in Friday's free skate, falling twice and performing easier jumps than planned, including a single axel instead of his signature quadruple axel. He finished eighth, his first non-first-place finish in over two years. Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov won gold. Immediately after, Malinin told reporters he felt overwhelmed by pressure and that 'all the traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head' before performing.
On Monday, Malinin posted an Instagram video showing past successes interspersed with images of him holding his head in his hands, with text describing 'invisible battles,' 'vile online hatred,' and 'insurmountable pressure' leading to 'an inevitable crash.' The post teased something coming February 21, the date of the exhibition gala where he is scheduled to perform. Malinin did win team gold with the U.S. earlier in the Games and will compete at world championships in Prague next month.
