2026 Winter Olympics: Ilia Malinin meets Simone Biles after figure skating heartbreak

Multiple Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles says she offered support to American figure skater Ilia Malinin after her compatriot’s shock collapse at Milan-Cortina 2026.

Malinin was the clear favourite for gold in the men’s figure skating but endured a horrendous free skate where he fell twice and failed to perform his trademark quadruple axel.

The 21-year-old was visibly distressed after his performance, which saw him fall from first after the short program to eighth in the final standings.

Afterwards Malinin posted a cryptic message to social media, indicating he had struggled with the weight of expectation at the Winter Olympics.

«On the world’s biggest stage, those who appear the strongest may still be fighting invisible battles on the inside,» he wrote on Instagram. «Even your happiest memories can end up tainted by the noise.

«Vile online hatred attacks the mind and fear lures it into the darkness, no matter how hard you try to stay sane through the endless insurmountable pressure.

«It all builds up as these moments flash before your eyes, resulting in an inevitable crash.»

Gymnastics great Biles, who has won 11 Olympic medals including seven golds, was in the stands for the free skate and contacted Malinin afterwards having suffered her own collapse on the Olympic stage.

She arrived as favourite at the Tokyo Games in 2021, having won four gold medals at Rio 2016.

But she suffered the ‘twisties’ – a mental block triggered by stress or anxiety – and withdrew from events to prioritise her mental health.

She returned to win three golds and one silver medal at Paris 2024.

The 28-year-old told Olympics.com: «I was really worried about how his mental health was going to be.

«When you’re expected to skate a performance of your lifetime and you don’t deliver, I worry how that affects his mental health and how the world is going to view that. I’ve been through that first hand and so I really went into protection mode.»

Biles said they had met up in Milan on Tuesday after she had decided following the final that she needed to get in touch.

«It was really heartbreaking,» she said. «I did a couple of bullet points and just sent it to him right away so he knew that he had support in a different aspect.

«Seeing someone and talking to someone that has gone through the same thing and validating that… He’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, yes, this is exactly how I feel. This is how to get over it or process it’.

«And so I think that was really, hopefully, helpful to him.»