Winter Olympics: After Drama: Figure Skating Star Malinin on “Online Hate”

Figure skating superstar Ilia Malinin from the USA spoke out on Instagram for the first time after his dramatic fall in the Olympic free skate and gave insights into his inner life. “On the world’s biggest stage, even those who appear strongest may be fighting invisible battles within. Even your happiest memories can end up being overshadowed by the noise,” Malinin wrote three days after finishing eighth at the Winter Games in Italy.

The post was accompanied by a video that shows Malinin celebrating his victories and a scene in which he puts his hands behind his head in disappointment.

Malinin comments on the enormous pressure

“Disgusting online hate attacks the mind, and fear lures it into darkness – no matter how hard one tries to remain sane in the face of endless, insurmountable pressure,” Malinin said. Until the Winter Games he was unbeaten for more than two years and was considered the absolute favorite. But in the free skate, after a botched performance, he fell significantly back from first place after the short program.

“All of this builds up as these moments flash before your eyes, eventually leading to an inevitable collapse. This is this version of the story,” Malinin wrote.

Malinin announces participation in the show

Despite eighth place, the 21-year-old vaguely announced with his contribution that he would take part in the popular Olympic exhibition running on Saturday. At the end of the video, the date of the show appears: February 21, 2026. Usually only the medal winners appear there, occasionally supplemented by a fourth-place finisher or runner from the host country.

Malinin had taken figure skating to a new dimension in recent years. He calls himself a “quadruple god” because he can do more quadruple jumps than any other runner. In the free skate, he had planned to be the first athlete in Olympic history to perform the particularly demanding quadruple axel. But Malinin had to abort the jump – and just jumped the Axel. This was the beginning of the Olympic fiasco for the two-time world champion.

By Editor