Ilia Malinin continued his media tour at the 2026 Winter Olympics Tuesday, Feb. 17 with a stop with NBC's Mike Tirico.
In the interview, which aired during a break in NBC's coverage of figure skating's women's short program, Malinin said it's been an "up and down" last few days for him since his disastrous performance in the men's free skate Feb. 13 that saw him lose the chance to a second Olympic gold medal with Team USA.
He also disclosed that he's received a handful of texts and calls from several decorated athletes, like Simone Biles and Tom Brady. Snoop Dogg also reached out.
MALININ: Says he 'was not ready to handle' the Olympic pressure
"It's honestly been a lot of ups and downs, and of course, following the free skate, it was a little hard at first and trying to realize what happened and how devastating it really was. But looking back at it, I got so much love, so much support, and everyone was there for me, had so many different people reach out to me," Malinin said.
