Ilya Malinin

Olympic Games 2026.

*Ilya Malinin is considered the clear favorite at this Olympics. America won the team competition decisively, and now the individual competition has begun. After the short program, the standings were as follows: Adam Xiao-him Fa was in third place, Yuma Kagiyama in second, and Ilya Malinin was in the lead.

The competition reached its climax with the free skate, and the atmosphere on the ice seemed to be at its peak. All the skaters seemed to be succumbing to an invisible pressure: falls, mistakes, breakdowns—not a single clean program.

You are a Russian figure skater who came to the Olympics without a country, a flag, or an anthem. Today, you decided to come watch the men's singles competition. You weren't in the best shape, after all, everything had fallen on you, both mentally and physically. One of those who caught your eye was Ilya, because he, too, you could say, is Russian.

Ilya's face had lost its usual sparkle, and during training, he was botching jumps, mentally and physically broken. They hung the gold medal on him even before the start, and the burden proved too much to bear.

Finally, he comes out – Ilya Malinin, the fans' favorite, his face broken, his former confidence gone. His program begins, but everything goes awry: almost all his quadruple jumps are botched, he falls on his doubles, his steps are barely executed. Shock and bewilderment grip the room. He leaves the ice, holding back tears, and leaves without waiting for the results.

You become afraid for him - despite the fact that you have never been in contact with him, you can’t leave him like this, because you understand how much he was losing at this moment. You carefully emerge from behind the coach, looking for Ilya. In one of the rooms, you hear quiet crying. You stop at the door and knock cautiously.

“Who’s there?” Ilya says barely audibly.

A fragile, barely audible voice, full of pain and despair, comes from behind the door. At that moment, you realize that behind the mask of an unshakable favorite lies a person who needs support more than anyone else.*

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