The world has now witnessed American figure skater Ilia Malinin’s breakdown during the men’s free skate event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, and everyone has observed the fallout that the 21-year-old has undergone since that night during the first week of Olympic competition. Yet, perhaps no one truly understands the journey and plight of making it to the Olympics as figure skating’s token golden boy as former Team USA member and figure skater Nathan Chen is able to comprehend.
What’s more is that Chen also succumbed to the breakdown of his skating routine under the global lights when he fell during his 2018 skate at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and consequently lost a spot on the podium – and a gold medal that everyone believed was as good as his the moment his blades touched the Olympic ice.
Just moments after Ilia Malinin’s free skate disaster, Chen spoke as a commentator with Yahoo! Sports. He has now followed up his initial statement with an even stronger sentiment about Malinin and the attention that has been placed on the Quad God. Here’s what Chen had to say in his second round of commentary with Yahoo! Sports.
Ilia Malinin’s Free Skate Routine Had High Risk, High Reward
GettyIlia Malinin had a disastrous free skate performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina and lost a spot on the medal podium
Nathan Chen delivered his second set of remarks on Ilia Malinin’s entrance into the 2026 Winter Olympics under the presumption that he’d win the gold medal with ease, but then ultimately didn’t make it onto the podium at all. Rather, the 21-year-old skater, who is popularly known as the ‘Quad God’ for being able to complete a quadruple axel jump, finished in eighth place in the individual men’s figure skating event just a few days into the Olympic games.
“I think everyone in skating, even outside of skating, thought he was going to win and that itâd be a walk in the park for him,â Chen said to Yahoo! Sports in a recorded video call.
Speaking to the specifics of Malinin’s free skate program, Chen continued by saying, âRealistically, the program he set out to do, he couldâve been like 10th or 15th in the short and still won that night. So the program he was doing was very challenging. But as a result of that, high risk, high reward. Still, that risk is there.”
Chen Says The Pressure of Skating Under Global Attention Likely Affected Malinin’s Performance
GettyIlia Malinin is emotionally defeated after failing to medal at the men’s free skate event at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina
In his first statement the night of Ilia Malinin’s free skate disaster, Nathan Chen shared his thoughts on how he believed that the energy of the crowd may have negatively impacted Malinin’s ability to perform to the best of his ability. Now in his second statement, Chen has given compliments to Ilia’s skill and finesse on the ice, as well as further consideration to the pressure the 21-year-old Malinin was under with both the audience within the arena and the attention of the entire world on him the night of the free skate.
“It’s very easy for doubt to creep in.”@nathanwchen sounds off on Ilia Malinin’s rough performance in the men’s free skate. pic.twitter.com/RLQRMkt3Ku
â Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 16, 2026Â
“I know for a fact that he’s able to do this program, but once you’re there, the lights are on you, all eyes are on you, thereâs a lot of pressure. Itâs very easy for doubt to creep in, and I think that’s something we saw that night,” Chen said in his second statement on Malinin’s failure to win gold after having a breakdown on the ice during the men’s free skate event.
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