USA Olympic skater Ilia Malinin postpones media session after performance
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U.S. Olympic figure skater Ilia Malinin did not hold her scheduled media session on Saturday. According to Christine Brennan, the session has been adjourned.
The postponement came a day after Malinin finished eighth in the men’s free skate. The American star won the gold medal but shocked fans and experts by falling twice during his performance.
Malinin’s madness was considered one of the most unlikely stories of the Winter Olympics as it dominated the competition ahead of Friday.
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Ilia Malinin of the United States competes in figure skating in the men’s free skating program at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on February 13, 2026. (Ashley Landis/AP Photo)
Malinin revealed that before her performance, her mind was flooded with “thoughts and memories”.
“A lot of thoughts and memories came to me right before I got into my starting pose and it almost, I think, overwhelmed me a little bit. I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of bad experiences and good experiences,” Malinin told NBC Washington after Friday’s competition.
“So I feel the pressure, especially of being an Olympic gold medal hopeful. It’s something I can’t control right now.”
“The pressure of the Olympics, it’s a really different thing and I think a lot of people don’t understand that. They just understand it from the inside and going into this competition, especially today, I felt really confident, really good,” she said. “But it really went by so fast I didn’t have time to process it.”
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Ilia Malinin of the United States reacts to the disastrous routine in which he fell twice during the men’s singles non-skating competition at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games 2026 Milan Ice Skating Arena on February 13, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Tim Clayton/Getty Images)
When her routine began on Friday, Malinin did a quadruple somersault to start but later settled for a single axel. Later it had a double loop instead of a quadruple loop.
He then fell on his quadruple Lutz attempt and fell on another jump shortly after. He scored 156.33 points; That’s a far cry from the world record of 238.24 she set in December and the 200 points she routinely reaches in the free skate.
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov won the gold medal with a personal best score of 291.58 points. Her score of 198.94 in Friday’s free skate was also the highest score of her career.
Japanese Yuma Kagiyama won the silver medal, while Kagiyama’s teammate Shun Sato won the bronze medal.
Malinin, who regularly posts total scores in the 300s, was content with just 264.49. His personal best is 333.81.
Malinin congratulated his Kazakh rival after the event ended.
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Ilia Malinin of the United States fell during men’s single skating at the Milan Ice Skating Arena at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy, on February 13, 2026. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
While on the bench, Malinin said that if he had been in Beijing four years ago, he would not have skated so badly. Malinin was 17 years old when he was left out of the squad in favor of experienced players.
Malinin’s finish sparked widespread disappointment among Team USA and skating fans on social media.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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