on PinterestFigure skater Ilia Malinin has opened up about the invisible battles he faced during his Olympic performance.
on PinterestFigure skater Ilia Malinin has opened up about the invisible battles he faced during his Olympic performance. Image Credit: Joosep Martinson/Getty Images
- Ilia Malinin, the “Quad God,” finished 8th in the men’s figure skating finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics after falling twice.
- In an Instagram post, Malinin alluded to the pressure of the Olympics, which affected his performance.
- Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, said she understands the pressure Malinin has experienced.
Ilia Malinin, a 21-year-old Team USA figure skater, was favored to win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
However, the “Quad God” ended up finishing eighth in the men’s figure skating finals after falling twice during his performance.
On February 16, Malinin addressed his performance in an Instagram post, alluding to the “invisible battles” he was facing amid Olympic pressure. He said he was experiencing negative thoughts before he stepped onto the ice.
“On the world’s biggest stage, those who appear the strongest may still be fighting invisible battles on the inside,” Malinin wrote.
“Even your happiest memories can end up tainted by the noise. Vile online hatred attacks the mind and fear lures it into the darkness, no matter how hard you try to stay sane through the endless insurmountable pressure. It all builds up as these moments flash before your eyes, resulting in an inevitable crash.”
Why couldn’t Malinin handle Olympic pressure?
Malinin entered the Winter Olympics as one of the most dominant competitors in elite-level figure skating.
He won two consecutive World Championships before the Games in Milan, as well as three straight Grand Prix finals and U.S. Championships.
The self-proclaimed “Quad God” is the only skater to land a quadruple axel during competition. He is also the first skater to land seven quad jumps in a single performance.
“All of this pressure, all of the media, and just being the Olympic gold hopeful was a lot,” Manlinin told NBC News.
“It was too much to handle,” he said.
What is sports performance anxiety?
Sports performance anxiety, or sports anxiety, is a common occurrence among athletes.
A 2019 review estimates that anywhere from 30–60% of athletes experience it.
It involves experiencing symptoms of anxiety during a competitive or sport-related moment.
According to the Yerkes-Dodson Law, athletes who excel or reach peak performance are immediately met with a high level of stress that could negatively impact their performance.
“Historically, we believed the ‘right’ amount of anxiety was like a U-shaped curve — too little, not good, just enough — ideal, and too much also not good,” said Alex Dimitriu, MD, double board certified psychiatry and sleep medicine specialist, and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine.
“More recent research seems to point to any cognitive anxiety before an event being maladaptive, which basically means, the calmer you are before and during the ‘performance,’ the better,” Dimitriu told Healthline.
Mental signs of sports performance anxiety include:
- intense fear of failure
- disrupted focus
- overthinking or forgetting how to do things that come naturally to you
- doubt that you can win or in your abilities
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