'Quad God' Teammate Maxim Naumov Gives Advice to Ilia Malinin amid Olympian's Trending Post, Videos

United States figure-skater Ilia Malinin shocked the world when he failed to medal in the individual event, falling twice on his free skate. In the wake of that disappointment, Malinin has shared a number of emotionally charged posts on social media, worrying fans.

But his teammates are trying to rally around him.

"This message is for Ilia specifically. I just want him to know that it's sports. It's hard," fellow figure-skater Maxim Naumov told People's Rachel DeSantis and Julie Mazziotta. "And the fact of what happened is a reality and it shows just how real and raw it all is."

"A lot of times we as athletes tie so much of our performance and the points [to] our own self-worth, and I just want Ilia to know that we love him and we support him and it doesn't matter," he added. "None of the skating stuff is ever going to affect that."

Malinin still claimed gold at the Milano Cortina Games in the team event, clinching that medal for Team USA with his free skate. And he seemed likely to extend his unbeaten streak to 15 events after posting the highest score in the individual short program.

It wasn't to be, and Malinin's impressive dominance over the sport was halted. But at just 21, he has plenty of skating in front of him.