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Team USA figure skater Ilia Malinin’s peers rallied behind him after the gold-medal hopeful finished in a disappointing eighth place during the men’s singles competition.
“I was not expecting that,” Malinin, 21, told NBC Sports on Friday, February 13, after his final 2026 Winter Olympics performance. “I felt so ready getting on that ice. Maybe I was too confident it was going to go well.”
Malinin, affectionately nicknamed the “quad god” for the sheer number of quadruple turns in his routines, was the gold-medal favorite in the 2026 Winter Olympics. After finishing the short program at the top of the leaderboard, he slid down to eighth after falling twice and making a slew of technical mistakes in his free skate.
“Finally experiencing that Olympic atmosphere, it’s crazy. It’s really different,” he told NBC after his competition. “I blew it. There’s no way that just happened.”
Ahead of the individual event, Malinin helped Team USA win gold in the team event.
Keep scrolling to see how Malinin’s fellow skaters have reacted to his surprising eighth place finish:
Tara Lipiniski
Tara Lipinski served as a broadcaster during Malinin’s Olympics competition.
“The grace, honesty and sportsmanship you showed in a moment of heartbreak reveals you are not only an elite athlete but a gracious human being,” Lipiniski wrote via Instagram. “I can’t wait to watch you rise.”
Johnny Weir
Johnny Weir works with Tara Lipinski as an NBC commentator during the Winter Games.
“You are one in a million @ilia_quadg0d_malinin,” Weir captioned an Instagram tribute. “You showed true sportsmanship and grace. I can’t wait to see where you’ll take us next. 🤍”
Nathan Chen
Gold medalist Nathan Chen was also confused as to why Malinin faced many missteps in the free skate.
“Something happened tonight and, truthfully, I can’t even express what it might be,” Chen told Yahoo! Sports. “I definitely can reflect back on my experience in 2018, when I went into the short program with a lot of pressure, a lot of concerns in my head [and] a lot of doubt.”
Chen further noted that Malinin appeared to “hold back” on most of his elements throughout the Olympics routine.
“By the end of it, it just was not his night,” he said. “One of the hardest parts about performing for a huge sold-out crowd is that you really can viscerally feel the reaction from the crowd. … That hurts you to your gut. Mentally, you have to figure out what went wrong and how can I regroup for the next element? Also, the energy changes in the arena and you can feel there’s tension now.”
Chen also noted that Malinin is still young and is “still hungry” to overcome his 2026 Olympics outcome.
“He has so much potential,” Chen concluded. “Tonight is a night where he’ll have to reflect and reevaluate where he was mentally and physically, and try to identify how he can come into the next Olympics and have a different outcome.”
Elladj Balde
Retired Canadian figure skater Elladj Baldé also offered his support.
“Figure Skating is one of the hardest sports mentally. The pressure is unbelievably heavy and there is no margin for error,” Baldé wrote via Instagram. “Tonight was a tough one but I am so proud of all of these skaters for the work they have put in to get here.”
Speaking to Malinin directly, he added, “You are an innovator and trailblazer of this sport and what you bring to the ice is far greater than simply your jumping ability.”
