‘Quad God’ Ilia Malinin wins third straight world title after Olympic heartbreak

It looks like Ilia Malinin, the “God of the Quad,” has done a good job moving on from his Olympic heartbreak.

Last month, the 21-year-old Team USA star was the heavy favorite to win the gold medal in the men’s free skate. But the unimaginable happened when he crashed twice and dropped all the way to eighth place.

However, he began to avenge his defeat and is now a three-time world champion.

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American Ilia Malinin competes in the men’s free skating event at the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Malinin screamed and punched the air with relief after completing a skate that showed he had fulfilled his desire to “move on” after the Olympics after days of tormented by his mistakes.

Malinin scored 218.11 in the free skate for a total of 329.40, well ahead of silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan with 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, finished third at 288.54.

Malinin was blunt about his Olympic performance when speaking to NBC afterward, saying simply, “I blew it,” and adding that it was clearly a mental hurdle from start to finish.

“I had so many thoughts and memories right before I took my starting pose, and almost, I think, maybe it overwhelmed me a little bit. I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of bad and good experiences,” Malinin told reporters.

American gold medalist Ilia Malinin greets spectators after the medal ceremony following the men’s free skating at the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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“So I just feel like it’s the pressure of being particularly an Olympic gold medal hopeful. It’s just something I can’t control now. The pressure of the Olympics, it’s definitely something different, and I don’t think a lot of people understand that.

“They only understand from the inside, and before this competition, especially today, I felt really confident, really good,” he added. “But it really happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to take it all in.”

But without pressure, Malinin was able to show who he really is on the ice.

American gold medalist Ilia Malinin salutes before the medal ceremony after the men’s free skating event at the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Malinin became the first skater to win three consecutive world titles since fellow American Nathan Chen, who achieved the feat in 2018, 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jackson Thompson of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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