American skating phenom Ilia Malinin, who has also been dubbed the “Quad God” for his extraordinary leaping ability, failed to medal after being the heavy favorite to win gold, finishing in eighth place in last week’s men’s free skate final.
Simone Biles, the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast, knows firsthand what it’s like to compete under pressure on the world stage. Biles revealed that she contacted the fellow American Olympian in the aftermath of his unexpected result on the ice.
“I’ve definitely had a chance to bump into him,” the 28-year-old told the “Today” show. “I’ve sent him messages on Instagram as well, obviously, it’s all been private because I know what he’s going through and I know most athletes might not be able to relate, and it’s really, really hard to watch.”
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Malinin dominated the short program earlier in the competition and entered last Friday leading by more than five points with a score of 108.16. But his performance in the final was the polar opposite. Malinin was blunt about his performance when speaking to NBC afterward, saying simply, “I blew it.” It was a clear mental hurdle from start to finish.
Biles draws from her experience at the Tokyo Olympics, where her run was cut short by the “twisties.” She said the ordeal equipped her to share advice with Malinin on how to recover.
ILIA MALININ HINTS AT INTENSE OLYMPIC PRESSURE DAYS AFTER UNEXPECTED RESULT
Biles remains hopeful about Malinin’s career prospects going forward and described the figure skater as an “absolute legend.”
“I see him coming out on top after this,” Biles said. “We’re all just cheering for him.”
Malinin also told the outlet he felt the weight of expectations ahead of his eventual eighth-place finish.
“Honestly, it’s not a pleasant feeling,” he said, when asked about being under a microscope at the Winter Games. “The most honest way to say it is just a lot on you, so many eyes, so much attention not only from people, or fans, media, it’s just so much and it really can get to you if you’re not ready to fully embrace it.”
Malinin added, “I think that might be one of the mistakes I made going into that free skate was I was not ready to handle that to a full extent, so I think looking back at that, now I’ll be able to kind of understand how that feels so I’ll be able to take a full approach leading up to the next games hopefully.”
Malinin connected on a quad flip to start but then settled for a single axel last week. He followed with a double loop instead of a quad loop. Malinin fell on a quad Lutz attempt and then on another jump shortly after. He scored 156.33.
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won the gold with a total score of 291.58. His 198.94 score in last Friday’s free skate final was also the highest of his career. Yuma Kagiyama of Japan won the silver, and Shun Sato, Kagiyama’s teammate, took the bronze.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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