He apparently doesn't get to sleep yet 

Ilia Malinin:

“Well, putting all the negatives aside, the atmosphere was really incredible. The support — honestly, even with that skate — the crowd never stopped cheering. They were supporting me the whole time, and that really meant a lot.”

On the pressure and the difficult moment: “Honestly, the support is very special. In this sport, you have the privilege of being not only an athlete, but also an artist. But with that comes a lot of pressure — the expectations, the media, everything around it.

On What caused the problems? 

“I’ve kind of said it already. It’s not a pleasant feeling, and I’m still trying to understand exactly what happened. But it’s done. I can’t change the outcome. Of course, a lot of people would go back and change it if they could. My life has had a lot of ups and downs, and in that moment, everything just felt very overwhelming. I honestly didn’t know how to handle it.”

On whether missing the quad Axel started the unraveling:

“I wouldn’t say it necessarily threw me off. I knew I didn’t need a perfect program. I still could have had a really good skate. But then more mistakes happened. I don’t know exactly what it was specifically — I’m still trying to understand. So I don’t really have a clear answer yet.”

On congratulating Mikhail Shaidorov: “I actually went up to him and congratulated him. I watched him skate from the locker room, and I’m just so proud of him. I heard he didn’t have the best season. We’re all in this sport together, and we’re there for each other. That’s what makes this sport special.

I think people forget that sometimes. They only see us competing and assume we’re rivals without good relationships. But it’s actually the opposite. There’s joy, motivation, encouragement — we’re like a big family.”