US skating star Ilia Malinin fights back tears after ‘Quad God’ FALLS and misses medal in nightmare Winter Olympic collapse

U.S. figure skating star Ilia Malinin’s quest for an Olympic gold medal crashed and burned on Friday night when he fell multiple times during the free skate in the men’s single skating final in one of the most shocking moments of the Games.

The 21-year-old, who has earned the nickname ‘Quadruple God’ for his impressive ability in the quadruple jump, is the favorite to top the Olympic podium, while his closest rival is expected to be Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama.

Instead, he was fighting back tears after one of the worst nights of his career, one that left a star-studded crowd at Milan’s Ice Arena sitting in stunned silence.

Malinin fell from a near-certain gold medal to eighth place in the men’s single skating final in one of the most stunning collapses in Winter Olympic figure skating history.

The path to gold looked open for Malinin after a struggle from the two skaters ahead of him, including Kagiyama.

Leading by a comfortable margin after the short program, Malinin only had to put in a mediocre performance to add the individual gold to the gold medal he won in the team event.

The 21-year-old couldn’t hold back his tears as he left the ice after a shocking collapse

American athlete fell multiple times throughout the men’s single skating free program

But he floundered many times throughout his program. First, it got rid of the highly anticipated quadruple axle, which would have been the first in Olympic history, and reduced it to just a single axle.

And it just went downhill from there.

Malinin disrupted his timing by only doubling the planned quadruple cycle. She fell into a quadruple lutz, preventing her from performing the second half of the quadruple lutz-triple toe loop combination that would have earned her big points. And on the final jump pass, which was supposed to be a high-scoring quadruple salchow-triple axel, Malinin could only muster a double salchow, and he fell on it.

When the music stopped, Malinin had to try to mask the sadness of the crowd, which included 2022 Olympic champion Nathan Chen; seven-time Olympic gold medalist gymnast Simone Biles; actor Jeff Goldblum and his wife Emilie.

“I ruined it,” Malinin said. ‘To be honest, that was the first thing that came to my mind.’

Malinin finished the race with a score of 264.49, ending an unbeaten streak of more than two years that spanned 14 competitions, including the last two world championships, which he easily won.

But it wasn’t his Japanese rival Kagiyama, the last man to beat Malinin, who won the gold medal.

Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, who looked a bit weak, won with 291.58 points and gave his country its first medal in the Winter Games.

Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov (center) won the gold medal, Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (left) won the silver medal, and his compatriot Shun Sato (right) won the bronze medal.

Malinin pushed her blades back after falling during free skating program

He looked distraught as he left the ice in front of a stunned, silent crown in Milan

The US Olympic gymnastics legend watched from the stands of the Milan Ice Skating Arena

Meanwhile, Kagiyama won the silver medal despite his own falls, while his compatriot Shun Sato won the bronze medal.

“To be honest, yes, I did not expect this,” Malinin said. ‘Going into this competition I felt very prepared. I felt ready to get on the ice. I think that might be the reason, because I was so confident that everything would go well.’

Malinin was five points ahead of Kagiyama and France’s Adam Siao Him Fa in the individual short program on Tuesday night.

But Friday’s free skate revealed a performance that would haunt Malinin for the rest of his career.