Ilia Malinin acknowledges that the pressure of the Olympics affected his figure skating performance.

Ilya Marinin Reflects on Olympic Performance

American figure skater Ilya Marinin was seen as a strong contender for a medal heading into the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games. However, he acknowledges that he wasn’t entirely prepared for the intense competition.

Marinin, often referred to as the “God of the Quad” for his ability to perform a quad axel, surprisingly fell multiple times during the men’s free skate final and ended up in eighth place. His performance was unexpected and left fans and commentators in disbelief. After the event, Marinin took some time to ponder over what went wrong during the competition.

In a candid appearance on the “Today” show, he admitted that it wasn’t a lack of technical skill that hindered him, but rather the overwhelming pressure from the crowd and millions watching worldwide.

“Honestly, I’m not having fun,” Marinin expressed, reflecting on his disappointing finish. “There were so many eyes on me, so much attention. If you’re not fully ready for that, it can weigh you down. I think maybe not being fully prepared for that aspect was one of my mistakes going into the free skate.”

Prior to the Olympics, many expected Marinin to at least secure a spot on the podium, especially after his solid scores in four competitions leading up to the Games, which ranged from 209 to 238.

However, the falls led to a final score of 156.33, and Marinin left the rink visibly upset, knowing that he had missed the chance to earn an Olympic medal this time around.

“Of course, it didn’t go as I expected… What I need to do is learn from my mistakes and figure out how to improve for the future. I hope to approach things differently for the next Olympics,” he shared.

Despite the setback, it wasn’t all gloom for Marinin in Milan. Earlier in the Olympics, he had scored 200.03 points in the free skate, contributing to the U.S. team’s gold medal win.