Feb 13, 2026, 05:12 PM ET
MILAN -- American figure skating sensation Ilia Malinin arrived in Italy as the clear favorite for Olympic gold and the biggest sure thing the sport had seen in decades.
But with that expectation came the pressure.
And that was enough to do in the skater who gave himself the nickname "Quad God" as a teenager. On Friday night -- as Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, reigning men's figure skating champion Nathan Chen and millions at home watched in increasing horror -- Malinin bailed out of his famed quad axel in the air for his second jump, and then completely unraveled.
For someone who had made it look so easy, so effortless, over the past three years, the weight of it all suddenly got to him. The timing couldn't have been worse, as the man seemingly destined for gold instead finished in a stunning eighth place, with Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan emerging victorious.
"I blew it," Malinin said moments after leaving the ice. "That's honestly the first thing that came to my mind."
With a five-point lead separating him from the rest of the field after Tuesday's short program, the 21-year-old was the very last skater to take the ice. After a number of top skaters visibly dealt with nerves and falls of their own, all Malinin needed to do was what he done countless times before.
But as he went to strike his opening pose, Malinin said he was flooded with overwhelming nerves that he simply couldn't shake.
"I just felt like all the ... traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head, and there were just so many negative thoughts that just flooded into there," Malinin said. "And I just did not handle it."
Malinin, the two-time reigning world champion who had an unbeaten streak dating back to 2023, landed his high-scoring opening quad flip jump but then struggled with the axel jump. There was a successful quad lutz after, but then he ended up doubling what was a planned quad loop. Malinin soon fell on a quad lutz, preventing him from doing the second jump (a triple toe loop) of the combination.
His final jumping pass was supposed to be a quad salchow-triple axel combination. He fell again.
When the program ended, Malinin stood on center ice and shook his head. He appeared to be in near disbelief as he put his arms in the air to salute the crowd. As he skated off, he puffed out his cheeks, as if to stop himself from crying.
When his free skate score of 156.33 was announced -- a staggering 15th place out of 24 in the segment -- and the total of 264.49 revealed his previously unthinkable eighth-place final result, he stood up quickly. He hugged Shaidorov, the world silver medalist who bested the field by over 11 points, and congratulated him on winning gold.
Shaidorov told reporters winning the medal was his ultimate goal and "why [he] wakes up and goes to training" every day.
While Shaidorov stood atop the podium, with Japan's Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato flanked beside him after winning silver and bronze, respectively, Malinin was speaking to reporters about went wrong.
"I definitely knew that I was prepared well enough, but again, it's still a lot to handle that process," Malinin said. "So I honestly don't know what actually happened in the moment for that to happen. All I know is that it wasn't my best ... and it was definitely something I wasn't expecting. I can't go back and change it, even though I would love to."
Malinin, who had previously told ESPN he was just trying to treat the Olympics "like it's any other competition," had floundered in his debut in Milan on Saturday during the short program in the team event. He stepped out of his triple axel before under-rotating his quad lutz to finish in what was then a shocking second place and more than 10 points behind Kagiyama.
He later said it was due to unexpected "Olympic pressure."
But Malinin rebounded for the free skate portion of the team event. While he still wasn't perfect, nor did he attempt his quad axel, he easily led the United States to a gold medal.
By the time the individual competition got underway Tuesday, it seemed as if he knew what to expect and how to handle it. Malinin opted to skip his final practice session at the arena ahead of his short program, instead practicing elsewhere and arriving later to the venue in order to give himself "more time to relax."
He admitted he wanted to have an earlier practice and "just lay in bed" for a while. The strategy, to avoid the pressure and spotlight until competition time, paid off. Malinin landed two quad jumps, although no axel, and his signature backflip and "Rasberry twist" for a 108.16 score -- and a five-point lead over the rest the field after the short program.
He did the same routine Friday. He said he felt ready for his free skate, and for the moment he had been dreaming about for years. Throughout the day, Malinin said he kept telling himself this was what he had trained so hard for, and he had practiced for this "a million times." It was just another day, another competition.
But in the last possible second, everything came crashing down. All of his preparation went to the wayside and he simply couldn't get out of his own head.
He said he only fully realized "something was off" when the program ended.
Despite his obvious disappointment, Malinin was clear-headed when describing what happened and remained largely expressionless.
"From here, it's just regrouping and figuring out what to do next and going from there," Malinin said about his immediate future.
Andrew Torgashev was the next highest-placing American in 12th with a total score of 259.06. Maxim Naumov, the sentimental fan favorite who lost both of his parents last year in the American Eagle Flight 5342 crash, was also error-prone in his free skate but received a standing ovation from much of the crowd. He finished in 20th place.
It marked the first Olympic appearance for all three of the American men.
