Something Ilia Malinin can learn from.

Social media is criticizing American figure skater Ilia Malinin for his strange move after a shocking collapse during the men’s free skate.

The 21-year-old phenom was the overwhelming favorite to claim gold in the men’s free skate event. But in one of the biggest stunners of the 2026 Winter Olympics, Malinin fell twice during his performance and slumped to an eighth-place finish.

According to Christine Brennan, Malinin postponed his scheduled media session after his stunning collapse.

Fans criticized Malinin for skipping his press conference.

“Wait. He planned a Media Day prior to the final competition? Reaps of arrogance. Glad he’s spending time with teammates and celebrating them, which indicates maybe his team were the arrogant ones and not him,” a fan said.

“His performance was hard to watch,” a user added.

“Never plan the celebration before you actually win,” wrote a fan.

“that’s a petty and snotty comment about a young athlete clearly struggling with anxiety,” another commented.

“🤣🤣🤣 planned events before we won. How embarrassing,” a fan wrote.

“A media day before he competes in the Olympics FS? So, he believed his own hype and crowned himself an Olympic champion before the competition? His arrogance knows no bounds!! Who told him he was guaranteed victory? His arrogance knows no bounds!!” another quipped.

All Ilia Malinin can do is learn from it and be better prepared for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

Ilia Malinin Admitted The Pressure Got To Him

Ilia Malinin (Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images)

After his shocking loss, Malinin admitted that the mounting pressure on the global stage overwhelmed him.

“I just had so many thoughts and memories flood right before I got into my starting pose, and almost, I think, it maybe overwhelmed me a little bit,” he said. “I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of bad and good experiences.”

Malinin also isn’t going home empty-handed, as he did claim a gold medal in the team figure skating event. And with two World Championship gold medals on his resume, Malinin is really only getting started.

He’s still a generational figure skating talent. Even the best of the very best have their off days. His two mistakes came at a terrible time, yes, but there is still plenty of gold for Malinin to add to his trophy room.