Peak moment on Olympic Day 7: Ilia Marin suffers historic meltdown
USA TODAY Sports’ Samantha Cardona Norberg and Jordan Mendoza break down Ilia Marin’s shocking long program that dropped him to eighth overall in the men’s free skate.
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MILAN — For Ilia Marin, a bad night was followed by a great afterword.
The 21-year-old Quad God’s epic on-ice meltdown at the 2026 Winter Olympics has already been well-documented. He fell twice in the men’s figure skating competition and made mistakes on other jumps, resulting in a disastrous 8th place finish. It was the worst performance by a gold medal candidate in Olympic figure skating history. For an athlete at the most important stage of his young career, this was the worst thing that could have happened.
But what happened after that? It was beautiful.
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Throughout the years of sports, athletes have reacted in a variety of ways in the aftermath of a crushing loss. Some people keep them together. Others behave badly. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who threw helmets at lockers, broke tennis rackets, threw golf clubs, reprimanded reporters, or simply refused to speak at all.
But Ilia Marin? After spending some quality time hugging and talking with the amazing gold medalist Mikhail Shaidlov of Kazakhstan, he purposely walked behind the curtain to the mixed zone interview area where he calmly, politely, and intelligently conversed with NBC’s Andrea Joyce just minutes after leaving the ice, fully answering her four questions, including the following statement:
“I wasn’t expecting anything like that and I was so prepared going into this competition… I was probably too confident that it was going to go well. … I think it was definitely a mental thing. I’ve just finally experienced the Olympic atmosphere. It’s crazy. It’s different than any other competition, it’s really different. I’m still very grateful that I was able to put in this work and effort to get to this point, but of course it wasn’t the skate I wanted.”
And what was his first thought when his music ended?
“No. Honestly, the first thing that went through my mind was, there’s no way that was going to happen.”
Joyce thanked him for the interview, and he thanked her as well.
Marinin then took on the challenge of the maze-like mixed zone, answering the same questions over and over again. When contacted by a US journalist, he answered everything again, but none of his answers sounded forced. He was patient and thoughtful. It was as if I had been asked about it all for the first time, and I offered new words and phrases to describe what I had just done.
“The pressure of the Olympics really bothers me,” he said. “The pressure was unreal. It was like I didn’t realize where I was in the program. Usually I have more time and I get a better feel for what it’s like, but this time everything went by so fast. … It felt really overwhelming. I really didn’t know how to handle it in that moment.”
Marinin has always been respectful of the writers and broadcasters who cover him, and Friday night, perhaps the worst night of his life, was no exception.
His actions are even more remarkable considering how long it will be until Malinin gets a chance to compete again on such a meaningful stage. Most athletes who lose their temper after a loss end up competing in another match or competition days or weeks later. Even Super Bowl losers have a chance to start over within 52 weeks.
But Marin? He will have to wait four years for his next opportunity at the Olympics, but performance after performance on the ice was a great and memorable one.
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