Ilia Malinin Fell Twice: Heartbreaking Falls Captured in Photos
Team USA Olympic standout Ilia Milanin had a heartbreaking performance while competing for individual gold at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
He fell. Twice.
According to CNN, Milanin "missed out on a medal and placed eighth in the men’s figure skating final after falling on the ice." The performance left him in tears. He "landed a backflip" but didn't even try his signature quadruple axel, according to CNN.
Ilia Malinin Shocked Fans, Who Weren't Expected to See Him Fall
(Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)
Malinin's performance, called "stunning" by CNN, "included two falls and some technical gaffes."
People expressed shock over the falls on social media. "Ilia Malinin also fell, so this final shouldn’t be real, just kill this sport WHAT IS HAPPENING," wrote one person on X.
"Oh I feel sooooo bad for ilia malinin poor poor kid :(((" another person wrote.
Ilia Malinin Is the Only Figure Skating to Have Landed a Quadruple Axel
Malinin slowly built his profile in competitions.
"His first international season at junior level came in 2019/20, where he competed at the World Junior Championships and finished 16th. What would have been his second season internationally was disrupted by the pandemic; he competed at Skate America as a senior in a modified event and landed the quadruple toeloop and quadruple Salchow," his Olympics bio says.
The bio says that his parents both competed in two past Olympics for the country of Uzbekistan. They are his coaches, according to the bio.
His Olympics.com bio notes: “The young American, born to Olympic figure skaters Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, is the only skater male or female to have successfully landed the quadruple Axel, skating’s most difficult jump, in competition. The self-proclaimed ‘quad god,’ a nickname he has also chosen for his social media handles, is also the only man to have attempted seven quadruple jumps in a routine.”
The bio adds, “Coached by his parents, who represented Uzbekistan at the Nagano 1998 and Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics, Malinin has taken the figure skating world by storm. He began skating aged six and won various medals nationally and internationally at the age-group levels.”