The 2026 Winter Olympics are officially underway, and Team USA just kicked things off with a major moment: gold in the figure skating team event. The win came from a stacked lineup—Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, Ellie Kim, Daniel O’Shea, Madison Chock, and Evan Bates competing in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. But let’s be real: a lot of eyes were on Ilia. And honestly, it makes sense.
Malinin is widely considered the most dominant figure skater in the world right now, thanks to his jaw-dropping technical ability. He’s the first (and still only) skater to land a quadruple axel in competition, which alone puts him in a league of his own. But despite the hype and admiration surrounding him, his body language suggests the attention hasn’t gone to his head. If anything, it’s doing the opposite.
Olympic Star Ilia Malinin’s Body Language Speaks Volumes On and Off the Ice
The quad god has spoken
Speaking on behalf of OLBG, body language expert Darren Stanton tells PureWow, “Ilia is crediting the whole team; he believes that it was a team effort, and he isn’t brash or bigging himself up.”
Stanton continues, “He is humble with everything he delivers and is proud of himself, but also of the team. He is not egocentric or thinking about himself. He is soaking up the atmosphere around him and is happy to be there, experiencing the Olympics with his team. He appeared grounded, grateful and being his authentic self. He is genuinely happy; his shoulder shrugs are in unison with what he is saying verbally, which is consistent with authenticity.”
The team gold wasn’t Malinin’s only standout moment. During the competition, he also became the first skater in 50 years to legally land a backflip in Olympic competition—yes, really. And once again, his reaction said just as much as the move itself.
“He shows microexpressions of complete surprise when he broke the record; his eyebrows were raised, his mouth was wide open, he is in complete shock that he has achieved that,” Stanton explains.
“It’s quite a childlike expression. He is genuinely shocked to receive that response from the audience and competitors as well, but he congratulates his competitor, showing he is authentic and genuinely happy to be competing,” Stanton adds.
The figure skating team event took place from February 6 to 8 at the Forum di Milano in Milan, Italy, featuring men’s singles, women’s singles, pair skating and ice dance.
And if you think that’s the last we’ll see of Malinin, think again. He’s still set to compete in the Men’s Short Program on February 10 and the Men’s Free Skate on February 13—both streaming on NBC and Peacock.
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