Fact Check: Did US figure skater Ilia Malinin receive threatening message from Trump?
WASHINGTON, DC: Team USA figure skater Ilia Malinin was awarded the Milan Cortina Olympics fair play award on Thursday, March 5, for his sportsmanship following his finish off the podium.
In early March, a rumor circulated online claiming that Malinin got a message from President Donald Trump that the Olympian said 'was meant to shut me up.' But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.
Claim: Ilia Malinin received a threatening message from Trump
A post by a Facebook user on March 1 read, "Ilia Malinin WENT LIVE AT 3 A.M. WITH AN EMERGENCY MESSAGE: 'I Got a Message Tonight — and It Was Meant to Shut Me Up.'"
"Ilia Malinin didn’t wait for an official press release. He didn’t consult a media team. He didn’t schedule an appearance. Instead, he went live in the middle of the night — without warning," the post further mentioned.
The post included an image of Malinin and Trump, which appeared to suggest the message was from the President, though it did not specify who the alleged sender was. Other Facebook users further shared the rumor.
Notably, Malinin was named the recipient of the Milano Cortina 2026 Fair Play Award by the International Committee for Fair Play and the IOC. It came from a global fan vote and recognized his immediate, gracious congratulations to Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov right after Shaidorov's gold-medal free skate.
Interestingly, despite his own devastating free skate collapse that dropped him from first place to 8th overall in men's singles, Malinin's sportsmanship stood out as a highlight of the Games.
Fact Check: False, no credible evidence to back the claim
The claims made in the online posts are false, as there is no credible evidence backing the viral claim.
Searches on search engines, such as Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google, and Yahoo, showed no reputable media houses reporting on any such news.
Meanwhile, the rumor likely stemmed from viral Facebook posts or similar unverified shares, but searches of Malinin's actual social media activity, interviews, and major news coverage show no record of him mentioning Trump in this context.
Moreover, the POTUS did criticize some US Olympians during the Games, such as calling freestyle skier Hunter Hess a 'real Loser' on Truth Social after Hess expressed mixed feelings about representing the US amid certain administration policies.
Similarly, other athletes, like figure skater Amber Glenn, also reported receiving threats and hate for political comments, but Malinin was not among those publicly involved in political statements or targeted by the President.
