Former figure skating gold medalist Nathan Chen was once where Ilia Malinin is now: solemnly looking back on a disappointing Olympic performance.
Malinin stunningly stumbled in the men’s individual final on Friday night to fall out of medal contention, placing eighth overall following his free skate at the Milan Cortina Olympics. The 21-year-old fell twice and looked shaky from the get-go, as he pulled out of his signature move, the quad axel, on his second jump. Afterward, Malinin was understandably heartbroken and still trying to pick up the pieces from his full-blown Olympic meltdown.
