MILAN — The comparisons were immediate, undeniable and haunting. When Ilia Malinin shockingly stumbled across the ice in his long program Friday night at the Winter Olympic Games, who didn’t think of Simone Biles battling the "twisties" and withdrawing from the gymnastics team competition four and a half years earlier at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, especially with Biles herself in the arena watching?
Both were high-profile athletes carrying the burden of great expectations for themselves, their families, their teammates and their nation. Both then found themselves dealing with, and reeling from, the awfulness that exists on social media, even as they rely on it to tell their stories, please their sponsors and bring fans along for the ride.
More: Like Simone Biles, Winter Olympians can experience 'twisties,' too
For those who say athletes like Malinin, Biles, skier Lindsey Vonn and others are too focused on promoting themselves, consider the relatively small window available for Olympians to make money.
The commercial deals they get almost always come before the Olympics. When the Games end, some receive more endorsements and speaking opportunities, but mostly, the sports world moves on without them, turning in this case to the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments and the upcoming baseball season. There is incredible pressure on an Olympian to make money before and during the Games, because nothing is certain afterward.
