'Quad God' Ilia Malinin Says Past Self Has Been Turned to 'Dust' After 2026 Olympics Struggles

Ilia Malinin is still coming to terms with his eighth-place finish in the men's figure skating event at the 2026 Olympics.

Speaking to Les Carpenter and Robert Samuels of the Washington Post, Malinin explained his past self has "been turned into dust" and that he has "aged a lot" as a result of the disappointing result.

"The person who came [to the Olympics], he's been turned into dust," Malinin said. "I came out a different person [with] a different perspective, different mindset."

Malinin, the self-proclaimed "quad god" because of the vast array of quad jumps in his routine, had not lost a competition since 2023 and was a heavy favorite to win gold in the men's singles competition in Milano Cortina.

The short program looked like it was going to be the start of a triumphant moment for Malinin. His 108.16 score was the highest in the field, setting him up for the free skate on Feb. 13.

Things were awry for Malinin, who bailed out of the quad axel on his second jump. He followed that up by falling twice while attempting a quad lutz and quad salchow-triple axel combination.

"Of course, it wasn't the skate that I wanted," Malinin told Carpenter and Samuels. "Living [and] training four years to get to the moment where you have to perform at your best at this huge level of stage and attention, it was overwhelming. And, [Friday's collapse] happened, and now I go into it as it's done, it can't be changed."

When the scores came in, Malinin's free-skate score of 156.33 ranked 15th out of 24 skaters in the field. His total score put him in eighth place overall, marking his worst finish at a senior-level event since he came in ninth at the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships at the age of 17.

Despite the disappointing result, Malinin said he felt at peace "realizing the opportunities and everything that's gone into this is knowing that it's not the end."

Even though the singles competition didn't go in Malinin's favor, he's not leaving the 2026 Winter Olympics empty-handed. The 21-year-old did win gold as part of the team event. He posted the top score in the free skate to push Team USA's total score to 69 points, one more than Japan (68).