In the wake of one of the biggest upsets in figure skating history, Simone Biles stepped up like the ultimate teammate to console Ilia Malinin, the self-proclaimed “Quad God” who entered as the runaway favorite for men’s individual gold but unraveled under Olympic pressure.

Malinin dominated the short program (108.16 points, leading by over 5), but his free skate on February 13 turned into a nightmare: Multiple falls (including on a quad Lutz attempt), missed signature quadruple axel, and a score of just 156.33 – dropping him to 8th place overall (264.49 total). Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov stunned with gold in his country’s first-ever figure skating medal. Malinin was blunt post-skate: “I blew it… There’s no way that just happened.” He later admitted the “insurmountable pressure” and spotlight got to him, despite his team event gold earlier.

Enter Simone Biles – the most decorated gymnast ever (11 Olympic medals, including 7 golds), who knows Olympic setbacks intimately. After pulling out of events at Tokyo 2020 due to the “twisties” (mental block causing disorientation), she returned stronger at Paris 2024 with more hardware. Watching Malinin’s meltdown from the stands, Biles felt it deeply.

In interviews with Today, Olympics.com, and others (Feb 17-18), Biles revealed she reached out immediately:

• Sent private Instagram messages right after the final: “I did a couple bullet points and just sent it to him… so he knew that he had support in a different aspect.”
• Met him in Milan on Tuesday (Feb 17): “I went into protection mode… I was really worried about how his mental health was going to be. I’ve been through that first hand.”
• Goal: Validate his feelings – “Just for someone to validate his feelings and to know we’ve gone through the same things, but you can still come out on top.”
• Malinin’s reaction: “Exactly this. Exactly… You finally just said it.” Biles called him an “absolute legend” and predicted he’ll bounce back stronger.

The wholesome moment even went viral when Biles “crashed” one of Malinin’s interviews for a quick hug and pep talk. Fans flooded social media: “GOAT supporting Quad God ” and “Real ones know the mental game is tougher than the quads.”

This cross-sport support highlights the raw humanity behind Olympic glory – pressure can break even the best, but legends like Biles remind them it’s survivable. Malinin heads home with team gold and lessons for Worlds/future Games; Biles continues cheering Team USA at Milano Cortina.