Nathan Chen expressed sympathy for fellow figure skater Ilia Malinin and shared some insight into what goes into an athlete’s mindset when their run doesn’t go according to plan. The 2022 Olympic champion also spoke about the pressure that can take an athlete.
Malinin was the firm favorite to win the men’s singles gold medal in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics. While the Team USA star was in the lead going into the free skate, an uncharacteristic performance marred by several errors left him in eighth place.
Nathan Chen on Ilia Malinin’s Struggles At Winter Olympics
Few would have expected Malinin not to win a medal in the men’s singles event at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Nicknamed the “Quad God”, the 21-year-old has been in excellent form and showcased his quality by leading Team USA to the gold medal in the team event.
But after a rough free skate outing on Friday, Chen gave insight into some of the things that might have impacted Malinin’s performance. The two-time Olympic gold medalist also reflected on his career, especially the 2018 Winter Olympics, when he failed to win a medal in the individual event.
“I can reflect back on my experience in 2018 when I went into the short program with a lot of pressure, concerns, and doubt in my head. He went into his quad axel and singled that and you could see that after that, every single element he started holding back a little bit more. And by the end of it, it was not his night,” Chen said to Yahoo Sports.
“One of the hardest parts about performing for a huge sold-out crowd is that you really can viscerally feel the reaction from the crowd. I remember when I went in my first jump and I fell, the whole crowd goes, ‘Ooooh’, and that just hurts you to your gut, and you get up and have to figure out what went wrong and how can I regroup for the next element, but also this whole energy just changes and you can feel there’s tension now,” he added.
Despite Malinin’s failure to win a medal in the men’s singles event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Chen backed him to return stronger in 2030 and turn things around.
“I can’t express how challenging that situation was and Ilia is absolutely in a position where he is young and still hungry. He still has so much potential. He is someone who we will continue talking about for the next many Olympic cycles. But tonight is a night where he’ll have to reflect and reevaluate where he was mentally, physically, and try to identify how he can come into the next Olympics and have a different outcome.”
2026 Winter Olympics Men’s Singles Free Skate Results
Malinin was leading by more than five points going into the men’s singles free skate event at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 21-year-old was the last skater to take the ice during Friday’s free skate and came undone as he made a number of big mistakes and ultimately missed out on a medal.
Mikhail Shaidorov came away with the gold medal in a big upset on the back of his free skate score of 198.64, with Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato claiming silver and bronze, respectively.
Canada’s Stephen Gogolev finished second in the free skate with 186.37 points but had to settle for fourth place. Malinin ultimately placed eighth with a free skate score of 156.33, with Team USA teammate Andrew Torgashev finishing 12th.
