Before the individual competition even began at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Ilia Malinin was seen as the clear favorite to win gold in men’s singles figure skating. But sport does not follow predictions. As of February 13, he struggled in the men’s individual free skate, making costly mistakes that changed everything. And now, 48 hours later, another development followed.

“Ilia Malinin has reportedly left the Olympic village,” wrote @TheIliaSociety on X. While it is true that he has left the Village early, the reason is entirely procedural.

In the program held on February 10, Ilia Malinin finished first and led going into the final. The free skate took place on February 13, which marked the end of his events for this edition of the Winter Olympics. Under the Period of Stay guidelines used in recent Olympic Games, athletes and team officials must depart the Olympic Village within 48 hours after their final competition or elimination unless an exception applies.

As a result, the access cards are usually deactivated after that period. Hence, Ilia Malinin had no remaining events and no exceptions, which forced him to leave the Village.

Another update on why he might have left the Olympic Village also followed, as reporter Philip Hersh shared insights into Malinin’s next destination. His agent, Ari Zakarian, told Hersh that Malinin “will do” the World Championship March 26-29 in Prague, where he hopes to undo the mistakes that cost him his medal this time.

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While he left carrying the weight of disappointment and difficult emotions, he had pointed out a major reason that might have played a part in his losing out on a medal.

Ilia Malinin blames the federation after the Men’s singles setback

Ilia Malinin began the 2026 Winter Olympics as part of the U.S. team in the figure skating team event. He delivered a good free skate, landing five quadruple jumps and scoring 200.03 points, helping Team USA edge out Japan to win Olympic gold in the team competition.

In the individual men’s singles competition, Malinin skated the short program on February 10, 2026. He executed a near-perfect routine, including multiple difficult jumps and a backflip, earning 108.16 points. That score put him in first place going into the free skate. But the free skate on February 13 did not go as planned.

Ilia Malinin struggled with several key elements. His planned quadruple Axel was downgraded to a simpler jump, and other big jumps, including the quad loop, were reduced to doubles. He fell on the quad Lutz and made additional mistakes. Each fall and downgrade in figure skating carries penalties, and his errors were compounded. So, the final result was a free skate score far below expectations.

Immediately after leaving the ice, Malinin spoke about his frustration, partly blaming the U.S. federation for a missed opportunity. “They would have sent me to Beijing four years ago, then I wouldn’t have skated like that,” he said, referring to the 2022 Winter Games when he was not selected for the Olympic team.

Ilia Malinin also shared the unique intensity of the Olympic environment. “It was definitely mental… finally experiencing that Olympic atmosphere, it’s crazy. It’s not like any other competition,” he said, describing how the weight of the moment impacted his performance.

He also revealed the mental and emotional toll of the day. “I just felt like all the… traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head, and there were just so many negative thoughts that flooded in there. And I just did not handle it,” Malinin admitted.

Even later, as Ilia Malinin tried to process the outcome, his surprise and disbelief were clear. “Honestly, I was not expecting that. I felt like going into this competition, I just felt ready getting on that ice, but I think maybe that might have been the reason. Maybe I was too confident that I was gonna go well. I can’t process what just happened.”

So, yes, Malinin’s Olympics were a mix of high jumps and hard falls, but his story is just getting started!