'Quad God' Ilia Malinin Says 'I Let FEAR In and It Ruined Me' in Viral Post Reflecting on Olympics

American figure skater Ilia Malinin reflected on falling short of an individual medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics in a Tuesday post on Instagram.

Malinin, who was favorited to win the men's individual competition, placed eighth after falling twice during his final skate.

"Everything that led up to this point felt like a waste, no purpose to continue, no faith in the world, no reason to trust myself. I let FEAR in and it ruined me," Malinin wrote Wednesday on Instagram. "Now, time to get back up and do it again. It's done, finished, gone. New goals and challenges await."

Malinin continued, "Grateful for everything and everyone that helped and supported me throughout this time. Met new people and learned many life lessons. 1: One loss doesn't change what you have already won. 2: You learn more from failure than success. I came in being one person and left with a changed mind."

He concluded: "Next step, Redemption. See you in Prague."

Malinin, who nicknamed himself the "Quad God" before becoming the first figure skater to land a quad axel in competition at 17 years old in 2022, went into the final on Feb. 13 with a five-point lead after a strong free skate.

The 21-year-old then popped multiple jumps, including a planned quad axel, in addition to his falls during his final skate.

Immediately afterward, Malinin told reporters he had been impacted by the pressure of heading into the final as the gold medal favorite.

"Mentally, it was a weird feeling going into the program," Malinin told NBC Washington. "I just had so many thoughts and memories flood right before I got into my starting pose. It almost, I think it maybe overwhelmed me a little bit.

"I've been through a lot in my life, a lot of bad and good experiences, so I feel like just the pressure of, especially being the Olympic gold medal hopeful, it's just something I can't control now."

Earlier in the Olympics, Malinin helped Team USA win team gold over Japan with a free skate performance featuring five quad jumps. He capped off the tournament with an exhibition gala skate to NF's "FEAR."

Malinin could ultimately seek his first individual Olympic medal at the 2030 French Alps Olympics, during which he will be 25 years old. Before then, he'll turn his attention to competing in the ISU Figure Skating World Championships this March in Prague.