The pressure got to Ilia Malinin during the men’s individual figure skating finals on Friday. The 21-year--old American skater entered the day with a 5.09 lead over the next closest competitor, and as the clear favorite to win gold in the event.
Instead of capitalizing and winning his first individual Olympic gold, Malinin fell multiple times during his free skate and did not perform his signature quad axel. He tumbled down to eighth in the standings while Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov won the gold.
