Ilia Malinin suffered one of the biggest upsets in sports history at the Olympics. He finished eighth during the individual figure skating competition as the -10,000 favorite to win the gold medal.
Those kinds of odds are typically applied to David vs. Goliath situations like No. 1 seeds vs. No. 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament.
The man they call ‘Quad God’ proved he is merely mortal. He will have a chance for redemption, and for history, during his final skate at the Olympics on Saturday.
Ilia Malinin broke his silence.
It should be noted that Malinin’s disastrous performance was not entirely his own fault. Terrible ice conditions at the Milano Ice Skating Arena have caused a lot of problems for figure and short track speed skaters over the last 10 days — but that does not excuse his epic failure on the world’s biggest stage.
Malinin was talked about as the guaranteed gold medal winner before he even took to the ice. And then he got the yips, fell multiple times during his routine and missed out on the podium all together.
The 21-year-old American chose not to speak to reporters at his previously scheduled media day on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the individual competition. Meanwhile, he shared a series of deeply concerning posts on TikTok. The messages included:
- “Sometimes I wish something bad would just happen to me so I don’t have to do it myself”
- “Your little boy is tired, mom”
- “When I get home and step into my room and my eyes start watering because no one knows how hard I’m truly trying”
- “No matter how hard things get just know everything will be ok”
Fortunately, it sounds like Ilia Malinin is in much better spirits now than he was over the weekend. The figure skating superstar broke his silence with a post to Instagram on Monday afternoon.
In doing so, he also teased a return to the ice this weekend.
Malinin, through his agent, confirmed that he will compete at the World Championships in Prague from March 26-29. But first, he is going to skate at the Olympic Exhibition Gala.
A “version of the story” is coming on Saturday, Malinin wrote.
The Exhibition Gala for figure skating does not count toward a medal. It is not a competition. Rather, it is an artistic performance where the biggest stars of previous weeks (medal winners and other athletes who won the hearts of the public) return to the ice to perform. No pressure, no stress.
The ‘Quad God’ is looking to avenge his loss at the Olympics.
Nobody would’ve blamed Ilia Malinin if he did not want to skate in the gala after what happened during the individual competition. The United States star deserves credit for wanting to get back on the ice and for handling the disappointment with utmost class during the immediate aftermath of his performance.
With the past now in the past, Malinin is focused only on the present.
While the outside critics beg him to rest, he continues to work even harder at the Olympics practice rink. He got right back on the horse to do things that have quite literally never been done before.
Malinin landed a never-before-seen quad axel with a Rippon variation just a few hours before he made his post on Instagram. No big deal.
Ilia Malinin Jumped a Never-Before-Seen Quad Axel Variant Today
by u/lizzybethany36 in olympics
Two additional videos from practice revealed the other things he is working on.
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The first video shows Malinin perform a quad Lutz-triple toe combination right into a quint Axel-double toe combination. A quint Axel would be historic. Nobody has ever landed one during competition.
The second video shows only the second half of Malinin’s combination. He apparently led into the jump with some kind of quad Salchow.
The text written over the video loosely translates to something like: “So you can understand the scale of it.” The caption implies that the full combination was monumental.
Ilia Malinin cannot win a gold medal at the Olympics until 2030 and will have to live with the sour taste of his eighth-place finish during individual competition for the next four years. The result is the result. He can only turn his focus toward his next event. The lights were too bright.
However, it seems like Malinin wants to remind the world that he is worthy (and deserving) of the crown during his performance at the exhibition gala. It cannot change the past but it can set the standard for the future. I cannot wait to see what he brings to the ice on Saturday. Either combination from practice would be a loud reminder of his standing atop the sport.