Ilia Malinin exclusive: "Medals don't really define who you are"

In the days since his Olympic debut came to a close, Ilia Malinin has been in a reflective mood. On Tuesday, he sat down exclusively with Olympics.com podcast host Nick McCarvel in one of his few post-competition interviews, the famous Milan Duomo in the backdrop. "Medals don't really define who you are," he said in a wide-ranging chat. Malinin discusses the pressure that he felt at these Winter Olympics, his thinking around the quadruple Axel, his plans moving forward and the amount of support he's gotten - from Simone Biles to Tom Brady and beyond - after his performance. The podcast also features a one-on-one with another high-flying athlete, freestyle skiing mogul legend Mikael Kingsbury, who led a trio of fathers on the dual moguls podium in the discipline's Olympic debut. Olympics.com reporter Andrew Binner chats with Kingsbury. Meanwhile, Nischal Schwager-Patel discusses the gold rush of cross-country skier Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, the Norwegian who now has 10 Olympic gold medals - the most for any Winter Olympic athlete - ever. Plus, a tour of Casa Airbnb at Milano Cortina 2026, the debut of ski mountaineering, Mikaela Shiffrin's emotional gold and great French success in the biathlon.

You can listen to Ilia Malinin exclusive: "Medals don't really define who you are" online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Ilia Malinin exclusive: "Medals don't really define who you are" is an episode from Olympic Channel Podcast by Olympics.com.

This episode is 00:36:59 long.

This episode was published on Feb 19, 2026.

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