U.S. superstar Ilia Malinin eyes gold medal in single figure skating Friday
MILAN — American figure skating superstar Ilia Malinin has received almost every honor in the sport. He is a two-time world champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion, and a four-time U.S. national champion. He is the only person to perform a quadruple axel and back flips regularly on the ice – a move that was previously banned for almost 50 years.
The only thing that has eluded him so far is an Olympic gold medal in the men’s singles. That could change Friday night when he competes for the honor at the Milan rink.
Malinin currently holds first place with a score of 108.16, more than five points better than his biggest rival, Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama.
The 21-year-old Virginia native says he doesn’t feel a responsibility to push the boundaries of the sport.
“It’s more of a passion and being able to show how I am as a person and express myself through my technical abilities or my artistic values,” he said after Tuesday’s short program. “I always tell people that figure skating is an extension of your personality, and everyone should have that in their skating. That’s what can make skating so beautiful and intimate.”
His American teammates Maxim Naumov – who lost both parents in the plane crash near Washington DC last year – and Andrew Torgashev will also compete on Friday night. But the headliner is Malinin, a big favorite for the gold medal, nicknamed “the god of the quad” for his ability to systematically pull off a move never before done in competition.
When asked if he could go even further and attempt a quintuple jump, he didn’t immediately dismiss the question.
“Maybe, maybe not,” he said. “I think about it – I don’t do it or I don’t do it. I’ll keep you on your toes. Physically, I think I’m ready. If the time is right, maybe you’ll see it.”
Former Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski says even with a lead, he probably won’t have a conservative routine.
“What’s great about Ilia is he’s very competitive,” she said Friday on the “TODAY” show.
“He usually doesn’t hold back and he has technical content planned in this program that no one can touch. He’s usually 15 to 20 points ahead. Now with a five point lead, he’s sitting in a very comfortable place.
“If I know Ilia in any way after watching him compete for so many years, I think he’s going to give up that iconic quad axel. I think he’s going to go for seven quads.”
If Malinin wins gold, he would become the third American to win this event in the last five Olympics after Evan Lysacek in 2010 and Nathan Chen in 2022. Malinin won gold earlier this week in the team event.
Naumov doesn’t come in with the same pressure as Malinin but has already exceeded expectations in his mind. There was a chance he wouldn’t even compete in Milan.
“I didn’t think I would execute anything perfectly,” he said after Tuesday’s short program. “I just wanted to go out there and skate with all my heart, really leave everything behind. I have no regrets after this program ends.”
When his score of 85.65 was read after his performance, he held up a photo of himself with his parents from the first time he was on the ice at age 3.
“I wear it so I never forget it,” he said this week. “I wanted them to sit with me and experience this moment, watch the scores. They deserve to be sitting right next to me, like they always were.”
