MILAN (AP) — Ilia Malinin posted a video on social media Monday juxtaposing images of his many triumphs with a black-and-white image of the U.S. figure skater with his head buried in his hands, and a caption hinting at an “inevitable crash” amid the pressure of the Olympics while teasing that a “version of the story” is coming on Saturday.

Ilia Malinin, aka the "Quad God," landed the first legal Olympic backflip since 1976 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, helping the Americans win team gold.

Team USA figure skating sensation Ilia Malinin was riding high after helping to lift the United States to gold in the team overall competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He then entered the individual competition as the overwhelming favorite.

MILAN (AP) — Ilia Malinin playfully threw a couple of jabs at a TV camera while skating off the ice Tuesday night, the pressure of his first Olympics having seemingly vanished following a team gold medal and a near-perfect short program to begin the men's competition.

U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin has not found much success in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. This has been the case as well for fellow Team USA athlete Ilia Malinin, who struggled mightily in the men’s figure skating final on Friday.

According to CNN, Milanin “missed out on a medal and placed eighth in the men’s figure skating final after falling on the ice.” The performance left him in tears. He “landed a backflip” but didn’t even try his signature quadruple axel, according to CNN. The falls were captured in a series of photos.

In one of the most stunning collapses in Olympic figure skating history, Malinin plummeted from a near-certain gold medal all the way to eighth place.

U.S figure skater Ilia Malinin grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons on Friday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The “Quad God” won his first Olympic gold medal on Feb. 8 after he helped lead Team USA to victory in the team event.