Ilia Malinin Makes Surprise Move Off the Rink at Olympics
Ilia Malinin is front and center at the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy, and when he takes the ice, there's something different about his performance that has nothing to do with skating.
Malinin, who competes on Friday, Feb. 13, in the men's singles finals, already has a first in figure skating at the Winter Olympics, and it's a unique one. It has nothing to do with skating and everything to do with his voice.
The "Quad God" says he's the first person to ever use his own voice in a program, according to his research on the topic. Yes, his own spoken words are a part of his program, and that's just how he wanted it. Let's go inside the "Quad God" to find out why this was so important to him.
Ilia Malinin on Using His Voice
"I really want to bring something unique and something of my own," Malinin told NBC News in October 2025. "The idea around my short program is that you almost come alive from the ice. It's like you're exploring and understanding what's around you, and defining that warrior spirit in you, and find that drive to fight through all the obstacles or pain or pressure — whatever that may be — and using that to redefine yourself."
His free skate, called "A Voice," plays to instrumental music along with the spoken word, and Malinin voiced it himself.
"From what I've heard, I am the first person to use my own voice in a program," Malinin told NBC News in the interview. "I think that's something different, and no one was really expecting me to go that direction, and I really like the excitement of entertaining people and being unpredictable."
Malinin already holds a bona fide gold medal from the 2026 Olympics for his run with Team USA's men's figure skating team.
Ilia Malinin Talks Mental Health
The "Quad God" also uses his TikTok account to talk about mental health. "Figure skating brings the extraordinary ability to connect deeply with an audience, both live and online," he shared on his account in one message. "But a dark side emerges from the digital animosity masked as harmless opinion."
He added, "As a byproduct of social media hostility, self-doubt fills the human mind. Self-hatred fills the human mind. All elite athletes and artists under a spotlight experience this in some capacity, yet may be fearful to speak out. But this part of reality needs to be uncovered too. Spread the word."
Malinin also said a profound comment on TikTok, that, "In the age of the internet expansion, the role social media plays on mental health includes correlations of heightened anxiety, depression, loneliness, thoughts of self-harm, poor sleep quality, increased levels of psychological distress, and lower life satisfaction. The virtual world can be noisy, isolating, and cruel."