Luv and vmm, I am feeling the same way. I just hope Ilia is getting the support he needs. I saw the following on tumblr:


[img]https://i.postimg.cc/JhW98DFQ/IMG-2450(1).jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/4x4WQ6j2/IMG-2449(1).jpg[/img]

Well, I decided to go ahead and watch it....OUCH!!!  His face at the end.....no words. You could just see everything pouring out in his face and then to read what he wrote on Tik Tok, he must have felt like the world was on his shoulders and he was all alone.  I sure hope that Simone, Nathan and others who have experience what he just went through can help. They too had so much pressure on them that it almost "broke" them, but they overcame and went on to the next Olympics and fulfilled their dreams. It might be a little harder next time, with others coming up, but I hope he can get an individual Gold at a Olympics.

"We" definitely put too much pressure on our athletes. 

 

Last edited by LuvSeason18 (2/13/2026 11:13 pm)

Booky wrote:

LuvSeason18 wrote:

Well, I decided to go ahead and watch it....OUCH!!!  His face at the end.....no words. You could just see everything pouring out in his face and then to read what he wrote on Tik Tok, he must have felt like the world was on his shoulders and he was all alone.  I sure hope that Simone, Nathan and others who have experience what he just went through can help. They too had so much pressure on them that it almost "broke" them, but they overcame and went on to the next Olympics and fulfilled their dreams. It might be a little harder next time, with others coming up, but I hope he can get an individual Gold at a Olympics.

"We" definitely put too much pressure on our athletes. 

 

I was much too nervous to watch, so I decided to follow the running commentary on X. I have the competition on my dvr but I don’t think I will ever watch it. I had a feeling something like this might happen but not to this degree. I never thought Ilia would be off the podium. I thought one or two of the Japanese men would out skate him and Ilia would end up with the silver or bronze. The guy from Kazakhstan wasn’t even on my radar. I started to see the cracks with Ilia during the Team event, when some of the teammates underperformed and put all the pressure on him to secure the team gold. He wasn’t as confident as he usually is and made some uncharacteristic mistakes in both his programs. 

I just think it’s always easier to be the underdog than to be the heavy favorite with all these expectations on your shoulders. 
 

The Kazakhstan boy was really good.  He had that "freedom and joy" from having no pressure to medal going in.  There was a "lightness" or "something" you could notice in his skate. Can't really explain it, but if you decide to watch him, I think you will agree that he was deserving of the win. 

You could really see how the top Japanese man and of course, Ilia had that tightness and mental pressure weighing them down.  They just didn't seem to be able to handle the nerves or deal with the pressure. Really, I don't know of anyone that could.  It was just too much. I think it might take Ilia awhile to get back to that mental strength needed......I hope not.  When is "Worlds"?

LuvSeason18 wrote:

Booky wrote:

LuvSeason18 wrote:

Well, I decided to go ahead and watch it....OUCH!!!  His face at the end.....no words. You could just see everything pouring out in his face and then to read what he wrote on Tik Tok, he must have felt like the world was on his shoulders and he was all alone.  I sure hope that Simone, Nathan and others who have experience what he just went through can help. They too had so much pressure on them that it almost "broke" them, but they overcame and went on to the next Olympics and fulfilled their dreams. It might be a little harder next time, with others coming up, but I hope he can get an individual Gold at a Olympics.

"We" definitely put too much pressure on our athletes. 

 

I was much too nervous to watch, so I decided to follow the running commentary on X. I have the competition on my dvr but I don’t think I will ever watch it. I had a feeling something like this might happen but not to this degree. I never thought Ilia would be off the podium. I thought one or two of the Japanese men would out skate him and Ilia would end up with the silver or bronze. The guy from Kazakhstan wasn’t even on my radar. I started to see the cracks with Ilia during the Team event, when some of the teammates underperformed and put all the pressure on him to secure the team gold. He wasn’t as confident as he usually is and made some uncharacteristic mistakes in both his programs. 

I just think it’s always easier to be the underdog than to be the heavy favorite with all these expectations on your shoulders. 
 

The Kazakhstan boy was really good.  He had that "freedom and joy" from having no pressure to medal going in.  There was a "lightness" or "something" you could notice in his skate. Can't really explain it, but if you decide to watch him, I think you will agree that he was deserving of the win. 

You could really see how the top Japanese man and of course, Ilia had that tightness and mental pressure weighing them down.  They just didn't seem to be able to handle the nerves or deal with the pressure. Really, I don't know of anyone that could.  It was just too much. I think it might take Ilia awhile to get back to that mental strength needed......I hope not.  When is "Worlds"?

Good to know he was deserving of the win. He was actually considered a contender last season because of his strong jumping ability, but because he had been struggling in recent competitions, I don’t think anyone predicted he would win.

World Championships will be held in Prague on March 24 - 29. It will be interesting to see if Ilia decides to compete.