Quad God Ilia Malinin worries fans after vulnerable TikTok posts following 2026 Winter Olympics eighth place shock

Ilia Malinin had the whole skating world watching him in Italy. Many believed the 21 year old from Virginia would win Olympic gold in the men’s free skate. Instead, the night ended in silence, he fell twice.

He finished eighth and just like that, one of the biggest stories of the Winter Olympics took a painful turn. Now, days later, fans are not only talking about the result. They are worried about Ilia Malinin himself.After the event on Friday night, Malinin reposted a few emotional TikTok videos. One of them included the words, “Sometimes I wish something bad would just happen to me so I don’t have to do it myself.” Another repost read, “It hurts because I’m trying my hardest but nothing I do is ever good enough for anything or anyone.”According to Fox News, fans noticed them right away and began sharing messages of support. Many asked if he was okay. Some simply wrote that they were proud of him no matter what happened on the ice. Ilia Malinin later removed those reposts. He left one message that said, “No matter how hard things get, just know everything will be ok.” For many fans, that felt like a small but hopeful sign.

Ilia Malinin opens up about Olympic pressure after eighth place finish in men’s free skate final

In an interview with NBC Washington, he explained how heavy the moment felt.“I just had so many thoughts and memories flood right before I got into my starting pose, and almost, I think, it maybe overwhelmed me a little bit. I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of bad and good experiences,” Malinin said.He also spoke about the weight of expectations.“So, I just feel like it’s the pressure of especially being that Olympic gold medal hopeful.

It was just something I can’t control now.”Later, he added, “The pressure of the Olympics, it’s really something different, and I think not a lot of people understand that. They only understand that from the inside and going into this competition, especially today, I felt really confident, really good. But it really just went by so fast I did not have time to process.”Fans continue to leave kind words under his posts. One wrote, “Can someone please check on Ilia.” Another said, “Ilia is strong. He will come back even stronger. He won our hearts.” For now, the skating world is waiting, not just to see his next jump, but to see him smiling again.