Olympic Figure Skater Ilia Malinin Reveals His Stress Relief 'Game Changer': 'Turned My Life Around' (Exclusive)
"It's been a long, stressful season with a lot of ups and downs," Malinin tells PEOPLE after his Olympic figure skating experience
Ilia Malinin at the Olympics in Milan on Feb. 13 Credit: Shunik Denisovich/Anadolu via Getty NEED TO KNOW Ilia Malinin tells PEOPLE exclusively about the new "therapy" he introduced this figure skating season, which included the 2026 Winter Olympics and wrapped with the World Figure Skating Championships in March The gold medalist opens up about the "ups and downs" he faced and how he bounced back Malinin also tells PEOPLE what he's looking forward to most in the offseason Ilia Malinin is prioritizing his well-being. The professional figure skater, 21, opens up to PEOPLE exclusively about what keeps his spirits high through the "ups and downs" of the competition season, which, this year, included his Olympic debut and third-consecutive world title win.
Malinin, who's famously known as the " Quad God ," reflected on his whirlwind year shortly after topping the podium at the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships in March. The victory came just six weeks after a disappointing eighth-place individual finish at the Milan Cortina Winter Games following the Team USA gold-medal win. Ilia Malinin of Team USA at the Milan Olympics on Feb.
7 Credit: Joosep Martinson/Getty "It's been a few days to really process it all now that everything has kind of come to an end for the season," he tells PEOPLE exclusively. "It's been a long, stressful season, with a lot of ups and downs. So just the fact that being able to be done, I'm really proud of that.
" "And, honestly, I feel like this is one of the best seasons I've had just because I got cats," Malinin shares of his pets, Mysti and Miu Miu . "Like, they really turned my life around. Genuinely, I feel like they're my therapy now.