Ilia Malinin quickly became one of the Milan Cortina Olympics’ biggest stars, on and off the ice, last month.
Even though the American fell short of reaching the podium in the men’s individual figure skating event despite being favored for gold, Malinin (who placed eighth) still went out of his way to congratulate Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, who won the gold. After Shaidorov received his historic scores, Malinin immediately hugged his opponent and congratulated him for winning gold. It was a wholesome moment that stood out throughout the Olympics.
