Ilia Malinin’s Olympic fall stunned the skating world as he entered the free skate leading for gold.
He appeared to skate not to win, but not to lose.
That subtle shift undoes anyone.
Minutes into his program, Malinin missed his famed Axel, abandoned two quad attempts, fell twice, and shockingly finished off the podium.
Ilia Malinin Olympic Fall and the Power of Choice
You can’t win when your focus is on avoiding loss.
Risk is the reward.
If you go down, at least go down in glory.
It appears the safer choice backfired.
“The ability to choose cannot be taken away or given away. It can only be forgotten.”
— Greg McKeown, Essentialism
No one knows this better than Nathan Chen.
He sat in the stands watching Malinin unravel.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Chen couldn’t land a clean jump in the short program.
The next night, he landed a record-breaking six quad jumps in the free skate.
From Ilia Malinin’s Olympic Fall to Fearless Willingness
“Adding the sixth quad was almost a game-time decision. I knew at that point I had literally nothing to lose, so I decided just to try it.”
— Nathan Chen
It’s never about one performance. It’s about what you choose next.
I call it mindful willingness.
After the Ilia Malinin Olympic Fall: A Motto for the Future
Never stop starting.
That’s it. That’s a motto for a big future even after a big fall.
God made us to own our race.
Lindsey Vonn explains this from a hospital bed.
“Similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is also the beauty of life; we can try. I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.”
— Lindsey Vonn, Instagram, February 15, 2026
Winners don’t always come in first. Sometimes the last shall be first.
The Ilia Malinin Olympic fall and the Lindsey Vonn fall may feel like a collapse, but they may prove to be the beginning.
When you fall in front of the world, do you retreat or do you attack the next jump?
Steve.. I had to read this twice to really hear what you were saying. Great post, honey.
Ilia Malinin and Nathan Chen. Two Olympic skaters. Both fell. Two different responses. Our choices determine direction. Direction leads to outcomes.