Ilia Malinin postpones press conference a day after finishing eighth at the Olympics
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American Olympic figure skater Ilia Malinin did not hold his scheduled media session on Saturday. The session was postponed, according to Christine Brennan.
The postponement comes a day after Malinin finished eighth in the men’s free skate. The American star was the favorite to win gold, but fell twice during his performance, surprising fans and experts.
Malinin’s madness was considered one of the most unexpected stories of the Winter Olympics, as he dominated the competition heading into Friday.
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Ilia Malinin of the United States competes during the men’s free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Feb. 13, 2026. (Ashley Landis/AP Photo)
Malinin revealed that his mind was flooded with “thoughts and memories” before his performance.
“I had so many thoughts and memories flooding back right before I took my initial stance, and I think it almost overwhelmed me a little bit. I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of good and bad experiences,” Malinin told NBC Washington after Friday’s competition.
“So I feel like it’s the pressure of especially hoping to win the Olympic gold medal. It was something I can’t control now.”
“The pressure of the Olympics is really something different, and I think not many people understand it. They just understand that from the inside and coming into this competition, especially today, I felt really confident, really good,” he said. “But it actually happened so fast that I didn’t have time to process it.”
A POWER OUTAGE STOPS THE MILAN CORTINA OLYMPIC GAMES CURLING COMPETITION MOMENTS AFTER THE BEGINNING OF THE MATCHES
Ilia Malinin of the United States reacts to his disastrous routine in which he fell twice during the men’s singles free skate competition at the Milano Ice Skating Arena at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on February 13, 2026, in Milan, Italy. (Tim Clayton/Getty Images)
When he began his routine on Friday, Malinin landed a quad-flip to start, but then settled for a single axel. Then it had a double loop instead of a quad loop.
He then fell on a quad Lutz attempt and then fell on another jump shortly after. He earned a score of 156.33, a far cry from the world record of 238.24 he set in December and the mark of 200 he routinely hits in the free skate.
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won gold with a total score of 291.58, his personal best. His score of 198.94 in Friday’s free skate was also the highest of his career.
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan took silver and Shun Sato, Kagiyama’s teammate, took bronze.
Malinin, who regularly posts total scores in the 300, settled for just 264.49. His personal best is 333.81.
Malinin congratulated his Kazakh competitor after the event concluded.
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Ilia Malinin of the United States falls during the men’s single skating at the Milano Ice Skating Arena at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on February 13, 2026, in Milan, Italy. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
While on the bench, Malinin said that if he had been in Beijing four years ago, he wouldn’t have skated as badly as he did. Malinin was 17 when he was left off the roster in favor of veterans.
Malinin’s result sparked widespread disappointment among the US team and ice skating fans on social media.
News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to Title IX enforcement and in mainstream media outlets such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The News and ESPN.com.