The Olympics didn’t go the way Ilia Malinin had imagined. After dominating the short program and looking untouchable in the men’s individual event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, a shocking fall in the free skate dropped him off the podium entirely — a heart-wrenching eighth-place finish for the 21-year-old “Quad God.”
“I felt so ready going into this competition,” Malinin admitted to NBC. “Maybe I was too confident… obviously it happened… I can’t comprehend what happened.”
Even in defeat, Malinin showed grace, congratulating gold medalist Mikhail Shaidorov and cheering on his teammates, including witnessing Alysa Liu take gold. But it was his final Olympic moment that left the crowd stunned — and inspired.
During the Exhibition Gala, Malinin stepped onto the ice wearing a gray hoodie with the word “Fear” upside down, paired with jeans. It wasn’t fashion — it was a statement. The hoodie symbolized everything he had battled over the past year: pressure, social media negativity, and the weight of expectations. Skating to NF’s “Fear,” he delivered a raw, emotional performance, finishing with his signature backflip that sent the audience roaring.
“Tonight’s performance was just an extension of the emotions that I’ve been feeling for the past year leading up to these Olympics,” he said afterward.
In the exhibition, Malinin wasn’t competing. He was expressing. Showing pure energy, raw emotion, and the lessons of a challenging Olympics. He reflected on what he had learned from the experience: defeat can teach more than victory ever could.
And he made one thing clear: this isn’t the end. “I’m going to take the next four years to really understand what I can do differently and have an even better strategy to come back and do my job,” he said.
With team gold in his pocket, hard lessons learned, and a gray hoodie that said more than words ever could, Ilia Malinin left Italy sending a message to the world: he will be back. Stronger. Smarter. Unstoppable.
