US Figure Skater Uses Olympic Performance to Address Social Media Pressures

American figure skater Ilia Malinin delivered a striking performance at the Milano Cortina Games closing gala, addressing the harmful effects of social media scrutiny after his disappointing eighth-place Olympic finish. The 21-year-old skated to a song about mental health struggles while mimicking scrolling through his phone and flinching from imaginary camera flashes.

MILAN – American figure skater Ilia Malinin turned his closing gala performance at the Milano Cortina Games into a compelling statement about social media’s harmful impact and intense public scrutiny on Saturday.

The 21-year-old athlete used his exhibition skate to respond to criticism following his unexpected eighth-place result in men’s singles competition, an event many predicted he would win.

Performing to “Fear” by rapper NF – a song exploring mental health challenges and feelings of helplessness – Malinin wore casual attire including a grey sweatshirt and torn denim. His routine included movements that mimicked browsing on a smartphone.

During the performance, he reacted to pretend camera flashes and at one point crouched low while pulling his hood up for protection.

The double world champion joined American teammate Alysa Liu, who claimed the women’s title, as featured performers in the traditional celebration that honors the competition’s top athletes from the past two weeks.

Coming into Milan, Malinin was considered among the strongest gold medal contenders across all Olympic sports, having maintained an unbeaten streak spanning more than two seasons.

However, the pressure of Olympic competition proved overwhelming for the champion, whose free skate program collapsed dramatically with two major falls and successful completion of just three out of seven planned quadruple jumps.

Earlier this week, he acknowledged on Instagram that his high-pressure Olympic debut led to an “inevitable crash.”

During Saturday’s exhibition, he executed one quadruple jump before performing his signature backflip with a single-foot landing, earning thunderous applause that seemed to recognize both his athletic ability and the burden he had shouldered.

The routine concluded powerfully as he pretended to put on headphones, causing immediate silence throughout the arena.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Liu captivated spectators with her lighthearted performance set to “Stateside” by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson.

Liu’s Olympic experience contrasted sharply with Malinin’s, marked by renewed enthusiasm after taking a two-year break from competitive skating.

She described feeling at “peak happiness” while competing.

French ice dancing champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron presented an artistic routine to the piano piece “Mad Rush,” while Japanese pairs winners Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara skated to Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”

Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, the surprising men’s singles victor, entertained the audience dressed as Kung Fu Panda and received a post-performance visit from martial arts star Jackie Chan.