Simone Biles is supporting Ilia Malinin after he fell during his free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics. "I've definitely had a chance to bump into him," Biles, 28, said during an episode of the Today show on Tuesday, February 17. "I've sent him messages on Instagram as well, obviously, it's all been private because I know what he's going through and I know most athletes might not be able to relate, and it's really, really hard to watch." Despite his falls, Biles gushed that Malinin - a.k.a. the "Quad God" - is still an "absolute legend." "I see him coming out on top after this," the gymnastics GOAT said. "We're all just cheering for him." Team USA's Mikaela Shiffrin Reacts to Ilia Malinin's Shocking Olympics Finish Malinin, 21, was predicted to take home an individual gold medal for Team USA as he's been undefeated for two years, but he fell to 8th place after a rough free skate on Friday, February 13. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won gold and Japan's Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato earned silver and bronze, respectively. Biles can relate to Malinin after she withdrew from the women's team final and four individual event finals during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were held in 2021, to prioritize her mental health after she got the twisties. (The twisties cause a gymnast to lose track of where their body is in the air and can cause dangerous landings.) Malinin also opened up to Today on Tuesday about his performance, sharing that the pressure got to him before his last event. "Honestly, it's not a pleasant feeling," the figure skater said of the pressure. "The most honest way to say it is just a lot on you, so many eyes, so much attention not only from people, or fans, media, it's just so much and it really can get to you if you're not ready to fully embrace it." WANG Zhao / AFP He continued, "I think that might be one of the mistakes I made going into that free skate was I was not ready to handle that to a full extent, so I think looking back at that, now I'll be able to kind of understand how that feels so I'll be able to take a full approach leading up to the next games hopefully." After receiving his total score of 264.49, Malinin told NBC that he "blew it." "That's honestly the first thing that came into my mind - there's no way that just happened," he added. "I was preparing the whole season. I felt so confident with my program. To go out and have that happen ... there's no words, honestly." Ilia Malinin Had 'Traumatic' Thoughts Before Shocking 8th Place Finish Back in 2021, Biles was replaced by Jordan Chiles in the team event during the Summer Olympics. She still won a bronze medal in the balance beam. She later opened up about having the twisties during an episode of Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" podcast in 2024. "Your body is going to try to do something, and your mind is like, 'No, you're not doing this, you're going to open out, you're going to do this,'" she explained. "You've been doing something for so long and you now no longer have control."