After finishing eighth at the Olympics, Malinin spent two months rediscovering why he skates. Away from judges, pressure, and consequences, he was just feeling himself again and had fun with the crowd. After a 2026 that has been defined by pressure so far, the Stars on Ice tour was everything he wanted. But as it came to an end, Malinin couldn’t help but feel wanting more of it as the goodbye turned teary.

The American was captured in tears as he waved goodbye to the crowd at the end of the Stars on Ice Southaven show. Malinin was seen alongside Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, Isabeau Levito and company as they waved goodbye to the crowd. Yet while the others seemed in a more jovial, laughing mood, Malinin was the only one in the clip who was emotional.

Apart from Malinin, Anthony Ponomarenko was also seen in tears in another clip. This comes on the back of the final US leg of the Stars on Ice tour, bringing an end to a two-month event for the skaters. It kicked off in early April with a handful of shows in Japan before moving to the US in mid-April. Since then, the skaters have toured across more than twenty cities.

Yet, for Malinin, this tour felt like a chance to perform without pressure. After all, the past six months have been an incredibly stressful time for Ilia Malinin. The 21-year-old entered the 2026 Olympics as the favourite to sweep it all and kicked things off with a team gold for Team USA. However, despite an excellent short program that saw him place first, things fell apart in the free skate for him.

A series of falls and errors meant that Malinin tumbled down the table, off a podium place and eventually finished eighth overall. It marked a shocking end for one of the favorites, and he even admitted that the pressure of the Olympics did get to him. However, Malinin returned with a bang at the 2026 World Championships.

He defended his crown, winning his third consecutive world title. Yet, the pressure was consistently on, and the Stars on Ice tour offered him a chance to perform without all that. In fact, Malinin even attested to it in an interview.

“There’s no pressure of judges and having to perform perfectly,” Malinin told USA TODAY Sports. “You really can just do absolutely everything, and just enjoy what you want to do.”

He also added that his favorite part has been “Performing for the audience and not having any expectations of what to do. Just really be myself out there and show them who Ilia is.”

And the crowd has loved it. That’s because throughout the tour, Malinin has produced quad-jump after quad-jump with an added bonus of more than a few backflips. In fact, one of his programs has an incredible four backflips, which quickly become a crowd favourite. More importantly, videos and tweets from the tour have shown off a freer-looking Malinin.

One often seen joking around and having fun with his fellow figure skaters, which fans have loved seeing more than anything. Yet it has called his participation in the 2026/27 season into question, especially after Ilia Malinin admitted he wanted a break.

Ilia Malinin reveals he wants a break from figure skating

The last two years have been all sorts of hectic for Ilia Malinin. The 21-year-old has been on a tear, though, constantly winning despite the immense pressure put upon his shoulders. So much so that he entered the 2026 Winter Olympics having participated in every possible event since 2021. That includes five consecutive world and US championships, multiple Grand Prix events and four Grand Prix finals.

Out of those, he’s won all but two events since a bronze medal at the 2022 Grand Prix finals in Turin. It marks a startling run of victories for the 21-year-old, and it’s why the pressure was on in Milan. Now, with his competitive and non-competitive season over, Malinin isn’t sure what the future looks like. More importantly, the American Olympian admitted he wants to take a break from it all.

“I don’t know, honestly, I don’t want to put that out there,” Malinin told Olympics.com. “I kind of want a break from skating for a little bit. These last four years have been really tough leading up to the Olympics.

“So I think I want to be able to take some time off, whether that be half a season or… it’s really depending on how I feel. I think it’s better right now to say I will feel it out because I’m still not really sure. … I’m taking it one step at a time.”

He wouldn’t be the first one to do that. After all, Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama recently announced that he would be sitting out the 2026/27 season to take a break from competitive figure skating. He did, however, reveal that he has other projects in mind but needed the break. Alysa Liu famously did something similar from the ages of 16 to 18, when she retired from figure skating.

The now Olympic champion returned to the sport after being revitalized and after rediscovering her love for competing and figure skating. Whether Malinin returns next season or steps away for a while, those tears said more than any interview could. Only time will tell just how much of a break Malinin decides to take for the first time in his career.