In Closing: 2026 Winter Olympics
Two Olympians, Two Psychological Journeys
What Ilia Malinin and Alysa Liu Reveal About Pressure, Passion, and Performance
As the flame is extinguished at the 2026 Winter Olympics, we’re left, as always, with unforgettable moments of athletic brilliance, heartbreak, resilience, and growth. The Olympic Games are never just about medals. They are about the human experience under extraordinary pressure.
This year, two American figure skaters offered especially powerful lessons for athletes at every level: Ilia Malinin and Alysa Liu.
Their journeys could not have been more different on the surface; yet, together they illustrate one of the most important truths in sport:
Performance thrives under passion, but suffers under pressure.
Let’s explore why.
When Pressure Hijacks Performance: The Ilia Malinin Lesson
Ilia Malinin entered the Olympic season with enormous expectations. Known for his historic technical content and groundbreaking quad jumps, he carried not only his own ambitions — but also the weight of media hype, national hopes, and the narrative of being the “Quad God.”
Under those conditions, even the most prepared athlete can struggle.
What often gets labeled as “choking” is rarely about lack of preparation. Instead, it is frequently a neurological overload problem.
Here’s what happens:
The brain perceives extreme stakes → threat response activates.
The sympathetic nervous system increases adrenaline and cortisol.
The conscious mind attempts to take control of movements that are normally automatic.
Muscle memory — which depends on procedural memory pathways — gets disrupted.
In other words, the athlete tries too hard.
Figure skating skills at the elite level must run on deeply trained automatic patterns. When the conscious brain interferes, timing changes by milliseconds — which is enough to affect jumps, spins, and landings.
This phenomenon is sometimes called:
Paralysis by analysis
Explicit monitoring theory
Overcontrol under pressure
For young skaters and families, this is a crucial takeaway:
More pressure does not produce better performance. It often produces the opposite.
Even extraordinary champions are vulnerable when expectations become heavier than joy.
Skating for Love Instead of Approval: The Alysa Liu Lesson
In contrast, Alysa Liu’s story offers a different kind of triumph.
After rising rapidly to national prominence as a teenager, she stepped away from competitive skating, openly citing burnout, pressure, and the loss of joy. Walking away from a sport at the height of success takes enormous courage.
Her return to competition brought a noticeable shift:
Greater emotional freedom
Relaxed presence on the ice
Authentic connection to performance
Renewed intrinsic motivation
Athletes who compete from internal motivation — love of mastery, curiosity, and self-expression — consistently demonstrate:
Better resilience under pressure
More consistent performance
Lower burnout rates
Longer careers
Greater satisfaction regardless of results
Psychology research on Self-Determination Theory calls this autonomous motivation, and it is one of the strongest predictors of success in high-performance sport.
Alysa’s performances showed something powerful:
When athletes reclaim ownership of their sport, performance often follows.
Her skating wasn’t lighter because expectations disappeared. It was lighter because expectations no longer defined her identity.
Two Paths, One Truth: The Nervous System Decides
Malinin’s experience and Liu’s experience highlight two sides of the same biological reality:
The nervous system performs best when it feels safe.
Pressure communicates danger.
Passion communicates safety.
When athletes feel:
Supported instead of judged
Curious instead of fearful
Self-directed instead of controlled
their brains allow automatic training to emerge.
This is not “mental toughness” in the traditional sense.
It is neuroregulation.
What This Means for Developing Skaters (and Parents)
The Olympic stage may feel far away, but the lessons apply directly to every skater stepping onto the ice for a lesson, test, or competition.
Here are the practical takeaways:
1. Joy Is Not Optional — It’s Performance Fuel
Athletes who enjoy training learn faster and perform more consistently.
2. External Pressure Has Limits
Encouragement helps. Expectations beyond a child’s emotional capacity hurt.
3. Trust Training, Not Control
Overthinking mechanics during performance often backfires.
4. Identity Must Be Bigger Than Results
Athletes who believe they are valued regardless of outcomes are freer to perform.
5. Breaks Are Not Failure
Rest, exploration, and even stepping away can be healthy parts of long-term development.
The Real Olympic Legacy
Medals fade. Records are broken. Headlines move on.
But the deeper legacy of the Olympics is learning how humans grow under challenge.
Ilia Malinin reminded us that even the most gifted athletes are still human — and that pressure can overwhelm anyone.
Alysa Liu reminded us that stepping back, protecting mental health, and rediscovering love for the sport can lead not only to happiness, but also to excellence.
Together, they show us something every athlete deserves to hear:
You skate your best when you skate for yourself.
Carrying the Flame Forward
As the Olympic flame goes out, the real work continues in rinks, practice sessions, and quiet personal victories.
Whether a skater dreams of the Olympics or simply mastering their next skill, the goal is the same:
Confidence. Joy. Growth. Ownership.
That is the kind of success that lasts well beyond the closing ceremony.