The price for athletic victory is too often the loss of a healthy mind. Athletes are pushed to the brink of human ability, aiming for one perfect win or one perfect gold medal performance.
At the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, Ilia Malinin showed the world that pressure will snap even the most seemingly perfect of us. At the same time, Alysa Liu showed the world that incredible things are possible without the weight of success’ standards to worry about.
Going into Milano-Cortina, Malinin, known as the “Quad God” for his incredible skill at the quadruple axle, was expected to win gold for men’s figure skating.
Malinin is the son of two Russian figure skaters, Roman Skorniakov and Tatiana Malinina, both of whom competed for Uzbekistan and, in 1998, would move to the United States. Malinin began his skating career at age six, trained by his parents and his grandfather, a retired figure skater and experienced coach.
From the early years of childhood, Malinin was training. He knew his goals, his dreams, and his purpose. This year, he made it to the largest athletic stage on earth at only 21 years old. The world watched and said that he would be their champion. But Malinin fell twice in his free skate, dropping to eighth place, with only ice-cold disappointment to meet him.
But as one idol of U.S. figure skating fell, another rose. “Golden Girl” Liu is the Gen Z icon who beat burnout, chose not to sacrifice herself and allowed joy to bleed unrestrained into her dance on the ice.
In 2019, Liu participated in her first international competition, and in 2022, she competed in the Beijing Olympic Games. At age 16, she was the youngest American athlete in the games, and she had already been skating for 11 years. Later that same year, Liu announced her retirement. She had fulfilled her goal of making it to the Olympics, and she wanted a life outside of skating.
Liu had burned out, but she still held a deep love for the sport that had shaped her entire life. In 2024, she announced her return to the ice, but with a new mindset that prioritized herself and let her own creativity take center stage.
“Skating gave me something to be strong for. I love having willpower. I used to never care about programs, what you skated to, your dresses, stuff like that. Now, I love skating dresses and helping with the design process. This sport is kind of an outlet for me,” Liu said.
This personality-based performance is what ultimately paid off for Liu, earning her the first U.S. women’s figure skating gold in 20 years with a free program that was highlighted by her halo hair and bedazzled smile.
Liu fought her demons and came back to win in a blaze of glory. She came back from her own rock bottom, while Malinin has only now reached his.
“On the world’s biggest stage, those who appear the strongest may still be fighting invisible battles on the inside,” Malinin posted on Instagram. “Even your happiest memories can end up tainted by the noise … no matter how hard you try to stay sane through the endless insurmountable pressure. It all builds up as these moments flash before your eyes, resulting in an inevitable crash.”
Malinin fell because of his humanity, but Liu rose because of hers. It is as human to rise as it is to fall, and these two figure skating favorites demonstrate that for the world to see.
All in all, the fall of Ilia Malinin and the rise of Alysa Liu prove that victory is not worth the stability of the victor, and true success should be determined by the individual, not the world.
