Staff USA determine skater Ilia Malinin’s friends rallied behind him after the gold-medal hopeful completed in a disappointing eighth place throughout the males’s singles competitors.
“I used to be not anticipating that,” Malinin, 21, instructed NBC Sports activities on Friday, February 13, after his closing 2026 Winter Olympics efficiency. “I felt so prepared getting on that ice. Perhaps I used to be too assured it was going to go properly.”
Malinin, affectionately nicknamed the “quad god” for the sheer variety of quadruple turns in his routineswas the gold-medal favourite within the 2026 Winter Olympics. After ending the brief program on the prime of the leaderboard, he slid right down to eighth after falling twice and making a slew of technical errors in his free skate.
“Lastly experiencing that Olympic ambiance, it’s loopy. It’s actually totally different,” he instructed NBC after his competitors. “I blew it. There’s no approach that simply occurred.”
Forward of the person occasion, Malinin helped Staff USA win gold within the group occasion.
Preserve scrolling to see how Malinin’s fellow skaters have reacted to his stunning eighth place end:
Tara Lipinski
Tara Lipinski served as a broadcaster throughout Malinin’s Olympics competitors.
“The grace, honesty and sportsmanship you confirmed in a second of heartbreak reveals you aren’t solely an elite athlete however a gracious human being,” Lipiniski wrote by way of Instagram. “I can’t wait to observe you rise.”
Johnny Weir
Johnny Weir works with Tara Lipinski as an NBC commentator throughout the Winter Video games.
“You might be one in 1,000,000 @ilia_quadg0d_malinin,” Weir captioned an Instagram tribute. “You confirmed true sportsmanship and beauty. I can’t wait to see the place you’ll take us subsequent. 🤍”
Nathan Chen
Gold medalist Nathan Chen was additionally confused as to why Malinin confronted many missteps within the free skate.
“One thing occurred tonight and, in truth, I can’t even categorical what it is likely to be,” Chen instructed Yahoo! Sports activities. “I positively can mirror again on my expertise in 2018, after I went into the brief program with quite a lot of stress, quite a lot of issues in my head (and) quite a lot of doubt.”
Chen additional famous that Malinin appeared to “maintain again” on most of his components all through the Olympics routine.
“By the tip of it, it simply was not his night time,” he stated. “One of many hardest components about performing for an enormous sold-out crowd is that you simply actually can viscerally really feel the response from the group. … That hurts you to your intestine. Mentally, it’s a must to work out what went fallacious and the way can I regroup for the following aspect? Additionally, the vitality adjustments within the area and you may really feel there’s pressure now.”
Chen additionally famous that Malinin continues to be younger and is “nonetheless hungry” to beat his 2026 Olympics consequence.
“He has a lot potential,” Chen concluded. “Tonight is an evening the place he’ll must mirror and reevaluate the place he was mentally and bodily, and attempt to establish how he can come into the following Olympics and have a distinct consequence.”
The 2026 Winter Olympics are formally right here — and Staff USA is arriving in Italy with star energy, storylines and sky-high expectations. Because the world’s greatest athletes descend on Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, all eyes are on the Individuals: from Ilia Malinin’s can’t-miss second in males’s determine skating to Mikaela Shiffrin’s long-awaited redemption tour on (…)
Elladj Balde
Retired Canadian determine skater Elladj Baldé additionally provided his help.
“Determine Skating is without doubt one of the hardest sports activities mentally. The stress is unbelievably heavy and there’s no margin for error,” Baldé wrote by way of Instagram. “Tonight was a troublesome one however I’m so pleased with all of those skaters for the work they’ve put in to get right here.”
Talking to Malinin straight, he added, “You might be an innovator and trailblazer of this sport and what you carry to the ice is much higher than merely your leaping capability.”