American figure skater Ilia Malinin had a lot to deal with on his Winter Olympics 2026 run. While the young champion failed to secure a strong position in his last run, he faced not only disappointment but also heavy criticism, which weighed on him emotionally. However, the 21-year-old doesn’t seem exhausted just yet.

“Honestly, just be prepared for the worst because you learn a lot more from failure than you do winning,” Malinin told CBS News. “And that’s something that a life lesson that I’ve always stuck with and also the concept of everything happens for a reason. And that’s something that I’ll also live with.”

Ilia Malinin’s Olympic outing left the figure skating world stunned as the overwhelming gold-medal favorite struggled through a flawed routine. Expectations were quite high from the 21-year-old who stepped in Milan with an exceptional record this season. However, repeated mistakes saw him fall from the top of the standings to eighth place, with total deductions of 72 points.

Further highlighting how he keeps himself motivated with a simple trick on his phone, he added:

“It’s one of my mottos that I like to remind myself. I have it on my phone every day. I wake up in the morning and the first thing that’s what my phone says. So it’s just really something that’s really sentimental to me and I think everyone should try to embrace that.”

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Famously known as the “Quad God” for his mastery of difficult jumps, Malinin failed to execute his trademark quadruple axel. He also fell during a quadruple lutz attempt and ended up compounding the damage to his score. This also resulted in heavy criticism, from not just the fans but from analysts who predicted a heavy mental toll on the figure skater.

Olympic gold medalist predicts mental issues for Ilia Malinin amid heavy expectations

Malinin’s free skate at the Olympics showed early signs that something wasn’t right. The 21-year-old, widely expected to win gold as he looked prepared to attempt his trademark quadruple axel, but instead settled for a single jump. The unexpected change drew a clear reaction from the crowd and hinted at the pressure he was facing. Amid the ongoing discussions surrounding his disappointing loss, another verdict unfolded, questioning his mental health.

Olympic gold medalist and NBC Sports analyst Tara Lipinski believed the issue wasn’t technical. “I don’t think we can even point to anything that truly happened technically,” Lipinski told NBC. “It was all mental. I never thought that he could be off the podium.”

Malinin came into the Olympics with a strong record. He hadn’t lost an international event since 2023 and had won two World Championships, three Grand Prix Finals, and three U.S. Championships in a row. His consistent wins made him the top favorite and increased the expectations around him.

NBC Sports analyst Johnny Weir, however, explained how different the Olympics feel compared to other competitions. “Every little skater, every little athlete in any sport that’s in the Olympic Games, across summer and winter, you dream about that moment in front of the entire world,” NBC Sports’ Johnny Weir said Friday. “And when you get there, it’s of course a huge and monumental achievement, but then you’re there, and this is what it feels like.”

While Malinin has himself admitted that the heavy burden of expectations resulted in the unexpected outcome, fans are still not ready to accept the reasoning.