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MILAN — Ilia Malinin admitted Tuesday on “TODAY” that he is not ready to face the spotlight of the Olympics, making his most detailed comments since his shocking performance at the Olympic Games in Milan Cortina.
Malinin entered the 2026 Winter Games under an intense spotlight. He was expected to win a gold medal in the men’s individual figure skating event, a competition he has dominated internationally in recent years. But after an exceptional short program, he was stripped of 72 points during an error-filled free program.
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“Honestly, it’s not a good feeling, that’s the most honest way to put it,” Malinin said of the high expectations he felt going into the Olympics. “So many stares, so much attention. It can really get to you if you’re not ready to accept it fully. Maybe that’s one of the mistakes I made, I wasn’t ready to deal with it to its fullest extent.”
Malinin said that at the start of his day of free skating he was confident, but when he stepped onto the ice he could feel “an incredible environment.” He added that this experience would affect how he would prepare for the 2030 Games, if he competed.
“Of course it didn’t go the way I wanted, all I can do is learn from my mistakes,” Malinin said, adding: “I can take a different approach before the next matches, I hope.”
Malinin’s score of 156.33 in the free skate in Milan was far from his performance during the 2025-26 figure skating season. In four competitions before the Olympics, Malinin posted free skate scores of 209.78, 238.24, 228.97 and 215.78.
In the team event earlier in the Games, Malinin scored a score of 200.03 in the free skate, helping the United States win gold.
At just 21 years old, Malinin has become a transformative figure in figure skating thanks to his athletic abilities. Malinin, self-proclaimed “Quad God”, became in 2022 the first skater to achieve a quadruple axel – a jump with a four and a half rotation – in competition. He is also the first skater to land seven quad jumps in a single program.
Malinin still has one more skate to play at the Olympics, as he will perform Saturday at the closing gala, an exhibition event. Malinin’s agent also told NBC Sports that Malinin still hopes to compete at the World Championships in Prague next month, an event that Malinin has won two years in a row.
Rohan Nadkarni is a sports reporter for NBC News.
