#WinterOlympics #FigureSkating #TheAgonyOfDefeat

IMO, despite the slight "hot mic" gaff spoken in the moment, I think #Malanin (who is only 21) handled his melt down on the ice in the Men's Free Skate with amazing grace & maturity faced with questions not one of us would have wanted to answer in a similar situation.

If I happened to me, all I would have wanted to do would have been to run & hide & lick my psychic wounds BUT Malanin stood in front of cameras & reporters answering the painful questions without being defensive or reacting with antagonism (as #POTUS47 famously does when asked questions he doesn't want to hear or answer).

It will be a long 4 years to get back to the #Olympics but Malanin should make it back & I hope he will have conquered the yips & wins the Gold Medal the next time around.

But, yeah, until then, it would be best if he stopped referring to himself as the #QuadGod. LOL! 🤦‍♂️

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7046476/2026/02/14/ilia-malinin-2026-olympics-figure-skating-future/?unlocked_article_code=1.MVA.E_Dp.dUXSQT7GdcuO&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta

#WinterOlympics #FigureSkating . . .

After the Men's Short Program Ilia #Malanin has a 5 pt lead over his main competition Yuma #Kagiyama going into the Free Skate on Friday 2/13.

https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/results/fsk/ss/m/singles-----------/fnl-/000100--/result

Malinin lost to Yagiyama in the Team Short Program but beat him in Team Free Skate. So, this was redemption of a sort but the main reason for the 5 pt difference was a mistake by Yagiama who fell out of a (for him) relatively easy Triple Axel. Otherwise, the scores would be much closer.

Nevertheless, with the potential 7 quad performance available to Malinin in the Free Skate, Malinin "should" win the Gold Medal in Men's Figure Skating as long as he performs relatively mistake free.

We'll see . . .