Ilia Malinin continued his media tour at the 2026 Winter Olympics Tuesday, Feb. 17 with a stop with NBC’s Mike Tirico.
In the interview, which aired during a break in NBC’s coverage of figure skating’s women’s short program, Malinin said it’s been an ‘up and down’ last few days for him since his disastrous performance in the men’s free skate Feb. 13 that saw him lose the chance to a second Olympic gold medal with Team USA.
He also disclosed that he’s received a handful of texts and calls from several decorated athletes, like Simone Biles and Tom Brady. Snoop Dogg also reached out.
‘It’s honestly been a lot of ups and downs, and of course, following the free skate, it was a little hard at first and trying to realize what happened and how devastating it really was. But looking back at it, I got so much love, so much support, and everyone was there for me, had so many different people reach out to me,’ Malinin said.
‘Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Biles, Snoop. I’m honestly just so honored for that and I feel like it just made my day, honestly.’
Both Biles and Brady have been spotted in Milan during the 2026 Winter Games, including in the figure skating arena. Biles, who has won 11 Olympic gymnastics medals during her illustrious career, stood and applauded Malinin with her husband, NFL safety Jonathan Owens as the first-time Olympian struggled through his free skate performance
Malinin also disclosed that after giving himself a day, he did look at the influx of support messages that he received on social media following his short program.
‘I gave myself one day just to kind of be in my own zone, be in my own space, but after that, I kind of just went online, see what people say, and a lot of positive messages, a lot of just love, a lot of just support…,’ Malinin said. ‘It just really hit me and it’s a reason why I love this sport so much because no matter what happens, it doesn’t define who you are as a person. And I think everyone realized that that night and I’m just super grateful to have the support from my team, my fans, my parents, who are also my coaches, and it’s just wonderful.’
The 21-year-old entered the free skate in first place in the men’s singles event, but a few falls and mistakes during his free skate program dropped him all the way down to eighth overall, a shocking result for the ‘Quad God.’
‘It’s definitely something that will help me not feel the worst from my Olympic experience, and really just shows how grateful I should be for even stepping on the ice for that team event,’ Malinin said on helping lead Team USA to gold in the team event. ‘It was something that I was not sure that I was going to do, but making the decision pretty close to the deadline. I am so grateful that me and all the other teammates we fought and put so much energy, all of it into that game, and it’s what gave us this gold medal, and I’m never going to forget that.’
USA TODAY Sports’ Cydney Henderson contributed to this story.
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