Simone Biles & Ilia Malinin Had The Olympics Meetup Fans Wanted

Few people can understand the pressure of being an overwhelming Olympic gold medal favorite, but luckily for figure skater Ilia Malinin, one of them was at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics to show him support. Gymnastics legend Simone Biles attended the Winter Games with her husband, Jonathan Owens, and she was in the arena on Feb. 13, when the self-proclaimed “Quad God” finished in an unexpected eighth place in the men’s singles event. Biles reached out to Malinin afterward, and she even crashed his Access Hollywood interview to share some wisdom on Feb. 17.

The GOAT & The Quad God

Days after his final performance, Malinin described it on Instagram as “an inevitable crash” because of the “insurmountable pressure” he faced. Biles was concerned for him when she watched the competition live. Based on her experience at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, when she suffered from “the twisties” and had to pull out of several events, she could empathize with what he was going through.

“I was really worried about how his mental health was going to be,” she told Olympics.com on Feb. 17. “When you’re expected to skate a performance of your lifetime and you don’t deliver, I worry how that affects his mental and how the world is going to view that.”

The two crossed paths at the Today studio on Feb. 17, and Biles said on the show that she’d “sent him messages” because she knew “most athletes might not be able to relate.”

Simone’s Wisdom

During his Access Hollywood interview that day, Malinin shared parts of his conversation with Biles. “She told me that everyone that’s outside of what we do does not really understand what goes around in our minds,” he said. Additionally, he shared that she encouraged him to determine what he wants and needs, and then “get back out” and refocus.

As a surprise, Biles crashed the interview, and she and Malinin publicly had the meetup many fans had been hoping for. “I’ve been on both spectrums, heartbreak and success at an Olympic games,” she said. “I know how hard it is. I know the pressures that it brings, and he’s so young.”

Biles also reminded viewers that Malinin won gold in the team figure skating event and defended him from questions about what’s next. “You don’t have to think about what’s next,” she said. “Why does everybody want what [is] next? Take care of yourself mentally, physically. Feel all the feels from the Olympics. This is one of the best moments and times of your life. Take all the pictures, and then when you go home, you think about what’s next.”