Ilia Malinin breaks silence after Olympic heartbreak, citing ‘invisible battles’

The post included a video of Malinin celebrating his victories with cuts of him sitting with his hands on his head.

Malinin did not specify what is coming Feb. 21, but medal-winning skaters will perform in an exhibition gala on that day. Malinin could join for a special performance despite his eighth-place result after helping the U.S. win gold in the team event earlier in the Games.

Malinin was widely-expected to win men’s gold after his dazzling performance in the short program, which put him five points ahead of the next-closest skater. But he unraveled in the free skate on Friday, falling multiple times and not executing his patented moves.

U.S. figure skating star Ilia Malinin stumbled through uncharacteristic mistakes in the Olympic free skate. Mariah Bell breaks down what happened during the men’s free skate.

The 21-year-old from Virginia lost 72 points due to a handful of uncharacteristic mistakes in the stunning display. His quadruple axel turned into a single, his quadruple loop turned into a double and he fell on his quadruple lutz.

Afterward, Malinin was visibly upset leaving the ice and offered an immediate blunt reaction to his performance while speaking on the NBC broadcast.

“I was not expecting that,” he said. “I felt so ready getting on that ice. Maybe I was too confident it was going to go well. I think it was definitely mental. Finally experiencing that Olympic atmosphere, it’s crazy. It’s really different.

“I blew it. There’s no way that just happened.”

After a shocking free skate, Team USA’s Ilia Malinin spoke candidly about the pressure and how fast everything unfolded. Olympic figure skater Mariah Bell reacts to his comments and shares a message of support.