American figure skater Illia Malinin, who happens to be one of the biggest favorites for the gold at this year's Winter Olympics, was seen sharing how negative thoughts and pressure took over him just moments before his free skate arose in the men's final.
Malinin entered this event with high expectations after he dominated the figure skating season, but during the crucial performance, he fell two times and was not able to execute several planned technical elements.
This led to an unexpected eighth-place finish as a whole. In interviews that were carried out later, the 21-year-old mentioned that although he felt so confident earlier in the day, once he came to a stop towards the starting pose, all the negativity began to rush into his head.
He described this feeling as if he had lost complete control and went on to admit that this mental burden of being seen as a gold medal favorite was so intense.
This is especially given his relative youth and limited Olympic experience. Malinin even acknowledged that while ice conditions were not ideal, it was mostly related to his own mental state that impacted his performance.