The 2026 Winter Olympics proved to be a mixed bag for Ilia Malinin. Though the 21-year-old played a crucial role in the USA clinching gold at the team event, he suffered a crushing defeat in the men’s individual free skate. He finished eighth in the final, which is still one of the biggest upsets of the Winter Olympics in Milan. And sure, that result was disappointing, but it offered him so much more.

“I’ve really understood my purpose in skating, and that is just to bring joy and happiness to the people that enjoy watching me, so that’s what I’m gonna be doing for the rest of my career,” Malinin said on how the Olympics have changed him after his exhibition gala at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, as per a video on X.

The Olympics began on a strong note for Malinin. After finishing second behind Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama in the qualifiers for the team skate, the ‘Quad God’ delivered big time in the final. With the USA and Japan tied heading into the penultimate event, the stage was set for a dramatic finish. Malinin rose to the occasion and gave a monumental 200.03-point performance that included five different quadruple jumps.

He edged Japan’s Shun Sato by a little over five points as the USA retained the Olympic figure skating team gold. They ended up with 69 points, narrowly surpassing Japan’s tally of 68. With momentum clearly on his side, Malinin headed into the individual free skate event full of confidence.

However, this is where things didn’t really go his way.

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Disaster in the final for Malinin

His performance in the short program was nothing short of exceptional. Malinin was the top skater during the round and finished with 108.16 points. He had a comfortable 5-point lead over Kagiyama heading into the free skate, but ended up completely blowing it.

Malinin slipped twice during the final and failed to properly execute many of his jumps. As a result, he lost a massive 72 points due to jumping mistakes alone. He finished with a points tally of 264.49, missing out on what was an expected podium. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov clinched gold with a score of 291.58, while the Japanese duo of Kagiyama and Sato won silver and bronze, respectively.

The disastrous performance saw Malinin come under intense scrutiny. Being a favorite worked against him in this case, as he wasn’t able to live up to the expectations. However, the sensation has received support from his fans and legends like Simone Biles, Tom Brady, and Stephen Curry during these tough times. Malinin was grateful for the positive comments and said that he was only able to handle the criticism due to the love and support that he received.

“I just felt like all the just traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head. And there’s just like so many negative thoughts that just flooded into there, and I just did not handle them. I got so much love, so much support, and everyone was there for me, you know. Had so many different people reach out to me. Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Simone Biles, Snoop, it was…I’m honestly just so honored for that, and I feel like it just made my day, honestly,” Malinin had said.

With the Winter Olympics now behind him, Malinin will be looking to make a strong comeback in the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships. The defending champion will be aiming to win his third consecutive world title and will undoubtedly be heading in as the favorite. The competition is set to begin on March 23 and will go on until March 29.

Do you think he can do it this time? Let us know in the comments below.