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Ilia Malinin, the self-proclaimed “Quad God,” was the heavy Olympic gold favorite heading into the men’s figure skating event on February 13th. With a fabled quad axel jump, backflips, and a record-breaking seven quad jump layout, he was expected to win.
Watching Malinin would be “like watching the moon landing,” according to an NBC 5 Chicago headline.
However, those expectations came crashing down during Malinin’s upsetting performance. Viewers sprang up from their couch in disbelief as they watched the American figure skater make mistake after mistake in his free skate. In the end, Malinin placed 8th at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
When NBC asked about what happened, Malinin had one thing to say:
“All of this pressure, all of the media, and just being the Olympic gold hopeful was just too much.”
The U.S. media is notorious for placing all its hopes on one athlete for the Olympics. Simone Biles. Nathan Chen. And now Malinin. He was everywhere in commercials. Quad God this. Quad God that. This burden backfired. The solution to saving skaters’ emotional and mental well-being? Focus on highlighting multiple athletes rather than just one.
Malinin’s Olympic heartbreak isn’t new. In fact, in 2018, American Nathan Chen was burdened with the same expectation. “Quad King” was his given nickname, and he set the record of six quad jumps in a single program, which was undefeated until Malinin jumped seven back in December 2025.
“Why Figure Skater Nathan Chen is America’s Best Shot at Olympic Gold” was a headline used by Interview Magazine leading up to the Olympics. Perhaps it was true, but it undoubtedly added more expectations onto Chen’s shoulders to carry America to a gold medal.
Unfortunately, like Malinin, Chen succumbed to the Olympic pressure, making mistakes on all three of his jumping passes in the short program and plummeting to 17th place. Luckily, unlike Malinin, he came back in the free program to place fifth overall. Still, he didn’t live up to the standards of the Olympic champion.
However, after the 2018 Olympics, Chen was undefeated for the next three seasons, culminating in the 2022 Olympic gold medal in the men’s event. Could Malinin pull a Chen and come back in 2030 to snatch the gold medal? Only time will tell.
The media is already discussing the road to 2030 for Malinin.
“2030 Olympics for Ilia Malinin? ‘Absolutely’” was a headline by NBC Sports Philadelphia. This is just one headline that’s already setting Malinin up for 2030.
Sure, it’s just predictions, but isn’t this adding more pressure? Now, the bar is surely higher than ever in 2030 for Malinin to redeem his Olympics upset and return home as an Olympic champion.
In contrast to the Malinin-dominant promotions, the U.S. media got it right with the ladies’ team for these Olympics. Instead of solely promoting one skater as they did with Malinin, completely sidelining the other two men, they highlighted all three ladies: Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, and Isabeau Levito. They were a collective — The Blade Angels — highlighting their sportsmanship and camaraderie, something usually not seen in the cutthroat world of skating.
Moreover, Taylor Swift did a promotional video showcasing all three of their unique qualities. The result: people were invested in all three ladies, not just one. People cheered for Glenn in the final minute of her free skate, they were dazzled by the balletic Levito, and they gave Liu a standing ovation for her performance and Olympic gold victory.
Malinin doesn’t need an Olympic gold medal to be great. In fact, he walked away with a gold medal in the team event; it’s not a total upset like the media makes it out to be. He has already cemented his name as the first person to ever land a quad axel in competition. He is the first person to land seven quad jumps in a single program. No one can strip these feats from Malinin.
The media needs to learn from what happened to Chen and Malinin and stop pressuring athletes to win gold medals or bust. As Malinin himself said, “A medal doesn’t show who you are.”
