The 21-year-old was the overwhelming favorite for the gold going into the Milan Cortina Games, but ended up placing 8th after a devastating free skate.

Simone Biles crashes interview with Olympics favorite Ilia Malinin to console him after shocking skating loss

The 21-year-old was the overwhelming favorite for the gold going into the Milan Cortina Games, but ended up placing 8th after a devastating free skate.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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February 18, 2026 6:09 p.m. ET

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Simone Biles in Hollywood in June 2025; Ilia Malinin in New York in April 2025. Credit:

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Joy Malone/Getty

Simone Biles has experienced the highest highs and lowest lows that an Olympic Games can offer, making her the perfect person to console Team USA figure skater Ilia Malinin after his devastating free skate performance.

Malinin was in the midst of an interview with *Access Hollywood *on the ground in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday, when Biles, a gold medalist many times over with the gymnastics team, jumped in to offer her support.

"I feel like I've been on both spectrums, heartbreak and success, at an Olympic Games. I know how hard it is," she said, giving the 21-year-old figure skater a consolatory hug. "I know the pressures that it brings, and he's so young."

Biles urged Malinin to "reset that mind and not think of it as not reaching the success that you wanted to have at the Olympics, but [as] a redirection. I think everything happens for a reason."

Malinin was heavily favored to dominate the figure skating competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The two-time world champion had become a global sensation before even qualifying for the Games.

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The athlete gave himself the nickname "The Quad God" as a teenager due to his proficiency with quadruple jumps. But skating out onto the ice for the free skate, his earlier confidence faltered, as he fell on a quad lutz, bungled a planned triple toe loop, and fell a second time attempting to land a triple axel. His visibly emotional reaction to the routine and dropping from first to eighth in the competition quickly went viral.

Ilia Malinin falls during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 13 in Italy.

Jamie Squire/Getty

Biles was in the audience for the routine, which she said still left her "enamored," with her "jaw on the floor."**

"I couldn't believe it. But obviously it is hard," Biles continued. "I just wanted to scoop him off the ice and put him in my pocket and be like, 'Come on, we'll deal with this later.'"

Biles has intimately dealt with the immense pressure of expectation when competing at the Olympics. She famously withdrew from several events at the 2021 Tokyo Games, saying she needed to prioritize her mental well-being.

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"I know exactly what it's like. It's hard, and you get in your head, especially when you're skating and you've done the skate so many times, like I know you have," Biles told Malinin. She encouraged the skater not to think about what's next," and instead, "take care of yourself — mentally, physically. Feel all the feels from the Olympics. This is one of the best moments and times of your life, take all the pictures and then when you go home, you think about what's next."****

Simone Biles and Ilia Malinin.

Today/Instagram

Malinin still led Team USA to a first-place finish in the figure skating team event, so he won't return to the States empty-handed.

He even maintained a positive attitude shortly after his free skate loss, saying on a Tuesday *Today *segment that he "was excited to get out there, but of course, it didn't go the way I wanted it to... But we can't look at that now. All I have to do is learn from my mistakes there and push to see how I can improve in the future."

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