The opening act featured former Italian figure skater Carolina Kostner, who won a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Games. She performed a duet with a 3D projection that was meant to describe the journey of athletes, beginning with their first steps in their sport to the point at which “talent finds its home, merging with the skater,” and they ultimately “draw the very best from it.”
Amber Glenn, who helped the US defend its Olympic team gold medal, performed to That’s Life by Lady Gaga. The lyrics could hardly have been more fitting for the three-time and reigning national champion, who bounced back from a major mistake in her short program that cost her a shot at an individual medal by laying down one of the best free skates of her career.
Just over one week after his hopes of an individual gold medal fell short, Ilia Malinin made a triumphant return to Olympic ice at the annual figure skating exhibition gala.
Malinin, 21, gave a powerful performance on Saturday, Feb. 21 set to “Fear” by NF, which he’d previously teased would be focused on mental health. The athlete said after his disappointing final skate on Feb. 13 that he’d been overcome with “negative thoughts” just before starting, which had made it hard for him to focus and ultimately landed him an eighth-place finish.
During Saturday’s program, he skated in a sweatshirt, and started by symbolically batting away the pings and comments in his music, which represented the negative impact of social media on his mental health. Once the music wrapped following his performance, which included his signature backflip, he appeared overcome with emotion as he soaked in the roaring applause.
Malinin had previously told fans what to expect from the gala in an Instagram post on Feb. 16.
“On the world’s biggest stage, those who appear the strongest may still be fighting invisible battles on the inside,” he wrote. “Even the happiest memories can end up tainted by the noise. Vile online hatred attacks the mind and fear lures it into the darkness, no matter how hard you try to stay sane through the endless insurmountable pressure.”
The gala is a post-competition tradition that features the podiums of all three completed figure skating events, plus other notable names from all over the world. This year’s gala includes Malinin, Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, Mikhail Shaidorov and Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry.
There are no judges and no medals at stake, so skaters are encouraged to get creative and have fun with their programs. Malinin and his teammates also performed a group program together earlier in the night.
In an interview with PEOPLE several days after the final, Malinin said that he was leaving his Olympic experience with newfound wisdom, having gained more in defeat.
“I think honestly, you learn more from losing than you do winning, so I think I’m definitely gonna be able to learn a lot from this so I can come back better and stronger and really just know what I was up against,” he said. “It’s one thing to experience the Olympics for the first time, but it’s another to go again and know what’s gonna happen and really know how to prepare yourself better.”
He also opened up about supporting his teammate Amber Glenn, whose own individual skate got off to a shaky start with her short program (Though she later redeemed her performance with a stellar free skate).