The men’s free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics was expected to be an impressive hit for Ilia Malinin. Instead, it turned into one of the biggest upsets of the Games, a night defined by uncharacteristic mistakes, visible emotion, and brutally honest reflections afterward.
Malinin arrived in the free skate as a huge favorite. He led after the short program and carried an unbeaten streak that stretched back to 2023, with many expecting him to land his signature quad Axel and secure Olympic gold. But Olympic pressure is something that even dominant athletes struggle to predict and would quickly change the narrative.
What happened to Ilia Malinin, and how did he end up in eighth place at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
From the opening minutes, the routine began slipping away. While Malinin landed his opening quad flip, errors soon followed in his entire routine. His performance turned out to be devastating, as he fell twice, bailed on two jumps that were supposed to be quads, and then faced an epic meltdown on stage.
His plan to execute his specialty, the quadruple axel, also failed miserably, as his attempt turned into a single axel. He also experienced multiple under-rotations and missed combinations that dramatically lowered his technical score. After this shocking turn of events, Malinin placed only 15th in the free-skate segment, which dropped him to eighth overall.
He achieved a score of 156.33 in the free skate, and his final score totalled 264.49. The top position, which was supposed to be smoothly grabbed by the American, was claimed by Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidoro, who scored 291.58.
This was Malinin’s first defeat after November 2023 and the first time since March 2022 that he didn’t earn a podium finish.
What did Ilia Malinin say after his free skate performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
The aftermath was just as striking as the skate itself. Cameras captured Ilia Malinin appearing stunned, shaking his head on center ice as his scores came in. According to reports, his immediate reaction was disbelief; he later admitted he simply could not process what had happened.
In the interviews post-skate, he described the mental overload he experienced moments before the program. Calling it an unpleasant feeling, Ilia Malinin said:
“It’s not a pleasant feeling. Honestly, I’m still trying to understand what happened specifically. But it’s done; I can’t change the outcome.”
He further said that if he had the experience from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, then things might have been different for him during this event.
“If they had sent me to Beijing, I wouldn’t have skated like that. It’s not easy. Before getting into my starting pose, those experiences, memories, and thoughts, and pressure, it just felt so overwhelming. So honestly, I didn’t really know how to handle it in that moment,” he added.
In a conversation with NBC Olympics, Ilia Malinin highlighted the Olympic pressure, saying: (1:15 onwards)
