Ilia Malinin was 17 years old when he was excluded from the US figure skating team for the Beijing 2022 Olympics in favor of the more experienced Jason Brown, a 27-year-old Californian who had already participated in Sochi 2014. The decision caused quite a stir, although the truth is that the Malinin of that time was not the Malinin of today.
Today, at 21, he is probably the best skater to have ever existed. A two-time world champion, holder of the record for points (238.24) in the free program since November (335.30 in total, including the short program). The first skater to include seven quadruple jumps in a single routine and to execute a quadruple axel (a four and a half turn jump entering forward). Undefeated in 14 competitions since 2023...
Nicknamed Quad God, the god of the quadruple, 1.73 meters tall and weighing 63 kilograms, born in Fairfax (Virginia) on December 2, 2004, is the son of two Russian-born skaters settled in Uzbekistan: Tatiana Malinina (Novosibirsk, 1973) and Roman Skorniakov (Sverdlovsk, 1976).
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but beneficiaries of its school, they competed for Uzbekistan in the 1998 Nagano and 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. By 1998, they were already in Dale City (Virginia) as teachers, fleeing the post-Soviet difficulties of Tashkent. They married in January 2000 and had Ilia and Elli Beatrice. Ilia, now their disciple, has benefited from the two key factors in shaping personality and behavior in any human activity: genetics and environment. Ilia did not initially plan to continue the family tradition, but at six he put on skates and at 13 he performed his first quadruple. There was no turning back.
We could say he is a grandson of the Cold War, just like his teammates, Maxim Naumov and Andrew Torgashev, also descendants of the Slavic passion for ice and art, children of Russian parents who competed for the USSR. The blocks, led by the Soviet Union and the United States, measured their strengths and ideologies during that time to demonstrate the superiority of one life concept over the other. Political competition contributed to the greatness of sports in the world.
The USSR and its Republics produced important figures, especially in pairs skating, with Irina Rodina at the forefront, along with Alexander Zaitsev and Alexei Ulianov. The Americans, however, maintained a certain superiority with stars like Dick Button, the first to combine skating and show business in the United States, the Hayes and David Jenkins, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano...
Hamilton, Olympic champion in Sarajevo '84, comments on Malinin: "He does ninja spins and those rotations, things that didn't exist before. It's as if he came from 50 years in the future to show us how far this sport has come." So much so that, according to Bonano, Olympic gold medalist in Calgary '88, "those things that have not been done before may not be done in the future either."
The fall of the USSR brought to light a flood of figures nurtured from children in the newly destroyed system: Viktor Petrenko, Alexei Urmanov, Ilia Kulik, Alexei Yagudin, Evgeni Plushenko... opposed by, among others, Evan Lysacek and Nathan Chen. Today, Malinin is not fighting against the reds. If anything, against the yellows, represented by the Japanese Yuma Kagiyama, who surpassed him in the team short program at these Games. He had to defeat him in the free skate to secure the gold for the USA by just one point. He also outperformed him in the individual short program qualifier that granted access to Friday's free skate, where the medals are decided.
He plans a performance this Friday with seven quadruples, including a quadruple axel. And perhaps finishing with a backflip, a backward somersault landing on a single blade, that four-millimeter-wide steel thread. An eye-catching move that does not score points and was banned since 1977 for almost half a century. It is now allowed, and although it does not score, it also does not penalize.
Malinin attended Falls Church High School before enrolling at George Martin University. He is already a millionaire, having signed contracts with companies like Coca-Cola, Samsung, and Honda. Some publications try to delve into his love life. As far as is known, he lacks romances and flings. According to his words, he has no time for such things. "My career comes first. Let's see what the future holds." A career he would like to extend by participating in four or five Olympics. "I'll see how long I can endure."