On February 13, 2026, the famous American ice skater Ilia Malinin took some hard falls during his Olympic Free Skating routine. Malinin, also called “Quad God” is known for being the first to ever perform a quadruple flip in competition and for being one of the best skaters competing, which is why his multiple falls and stumbles had many people shocked. 

When Malinin went up to perform, he felt confident. “Going into this competition, especially today, I felt really confident, really good, you know. The earlier practice today went really well, and I felt like I was ready, and all I need to do is just come out here and just trust everything that  happens,” he says in an interview just after coming off the ice. Unfortunately, Malinin’s expectations were not met at all. 

After his first mistake, everyone seemed to be shocked and disappointed, but expected Malinin to recover. “Was going for a quad loop–only a double. We don’t usually see Ilia make mistakes like this,” said the commentator during Malinin’s routine, which shows how much pressure he was being put under. 

After his first mistake, Malinin continues to stumble and make mistakes, even falling down completely on two different attempts at his iconic quad flips. You can see the disappointment and shock on Malinin’s face as he takes a bow and leaves the rink. 

Later, Malinin opens up about the mental health aspects of sports and competing, and in the end, the 8th place routine was summed up by “everyone has bad days”, and there will still be many people waiting to see Malinin return with great performances. 

Even Malinin himself believes that the mistakes he made will help him improve in the future. “You learn more from losing than you do winning, so I think I’m definitely going to be able to learn a lot from this so I can come back better and stronger,” he said. One bad routine doesn’t make a bad competitor, and this will stand true with Ilia Malinin.