Ilia Malinin opens up about Olympic pressure
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Ilia Malinin has become the face of figure skating, and is changing the sport, according to his fellow figure skaters at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
6don MSN
US skating star Ilia Malinin leads after near-perfect short program at the Milan Cortina Olympics
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.
The U.S. gymnastics legend faced similar disappointment at the 2020 Olympics before returning to win gold in Paris in 2024.
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.
Ilia Malinin struggled in his free skate, falling twice and bailing on other jumps, finishing in 8th at the 2026 Olympics in a shocking result.
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.
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.