Ilia Malinin makes shocking admission after figure skating failure at Winter Olympics

Ilia Malinin came up short in his first Winter Olympics.

He did help deliver Team USA a gold medal in the team figure skating event, but as an individual, Malinin fell twice during his free skate and finished off the podium entirely.

The 21-year old had entered these Games as the favorite to win gold, and he had the best score in the short program, setting himself up to do just that.

But on the pivotal day, Malinin came up short.

Four days later, Malinin joined the Today Show on Tuesday to discuss what happened, and he admitted he may not have been ready for all the spotlight would bring.

“Honestly, it’s not a pleasant feeling is the most honest way to say it,” Malinin said Tuesday. “So many eyes, so much attention. It really can get to you if you’re not ready to fully embrace it. That may be one of the mistakes I made, I was not ready to handle that to the fullest extent.”

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While it clearly may be exactly what happened, it's also a little surprising to hear Malinin admit it.

This is a guy who hadn't lost in a competition in about three years. And still, the bright lights got to him.

He essentially admitted as such when a microphone caught him complaining after his free skate that he wouldn't have struggled if he had been sent to Beijing for the 2022 Olympics, when he certainly had a case to be on a team.

Instead, this was his debut at the Olympics, and it didn't end even close to how he would've drawn it up.

“Of course it didn’t go the way I wanted it to, all I can do is learn from my mistakes,” Malinin said. “I can take a different approach leading up to the next games, hopefully.”

The figure skating world will surely wait with heavy anticipation for Malinin to try and get redemption at the next Olympics.

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