At the end of his free skating Saturday, Ilia Malinin lay stretched out on the ice, eyes closed, taking it all in. The man known as the ‘Quad God’ had just unleashed a series of quadruple jumps – including the quad axel, a jump no one else has ever landed – and even a backflip in his signature spectacular style.
The routine included a fall and several other mistakes, but that didn’t matter. Malinin, the rising American who turned 20 on Monday, easily defeated Japanese rival Yuma Kagiyama to win the men’s singles match in the Grand Prix final, capping an undefeated 2024 and cementing his status as a superstar in the making.
Perhaps the only thing Malinin doesn’t want is for the Olympic Games to take place in fourteen months instead of two.
Since the 2022 Beijing Games, Malinin has become the new force in men’s figure skating. His victory on Saturday completed a perfect calendar year that included the World Championship gold medal and made him the sport’s clear No. 1, just over a year before the 2026 Olympics begin in Milan.
Malinin started with a dazzling short program on Friday, opening a nearly 12-point lead over Kagiyama, the worlds silver medalist behind Malinin. During Saturday’s free skate, Malinin unleashed a barrage of quads — the axel, lutz, salchow, toe loop, loop and flip — and a crowd-pleasing backflip near the end to claim another major title. He finished with a combined score of 292.12, beating Kagiyama’s 281.78. The Japanese Shun Sato came third with a 270.82.
“I had this idea and this goal that I wanted to achieve here, and I was able to blow it out of the park,” Malinin said in the arena after the win.
A familiar sound for Ilia Malinin. 🇺🇸
He stands at the top of the podium after successfully defending his #GPFigure title. 🥇 pic.twitter.com/QkhbfrWP8f
— NBC Olympic and Paralympic Games (@NBCOlympics) December 7, 2024
The Grand Prix Final is the culmination of figure skating’s annual Grand Prix series, with only the top six skaters or pairs in each discipline invited. It is one of the most prestigious global titles in sport, after the Olympic Games and World Championships.
The victory capped a great weekend for the US in Grenoble, France, with three titles. Earlier Saturday, Amber Glenn won the women’s competition, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates – the two-time defending champions – won the ice dance for the second year in a row. The Americans also took gold and two silvers in the junior competition.
Malinin was born and raised in Virginia. His parents, Roman Skorniakov and Tatiana Malinina, are former Olympic figure skaters of Russian and Uzbek descent. They moved to the US and live in Vienna, Virginia, where Malinin learned to skate at the institution where his parents coach. He attends George Mason University.
Malinin could already be a household name for casual Olympic fans if not for a decision made in 2022 that kept him from the US team in Beijing.
American Ilia Malinin, who turned 20 on Monday, has risen to the top of men’s figure skating and enters 2025 as the sport’s clear No. 1. (Laurent Cipriani / AP)
At that year’s US Championships, a month before the Olympics, Malinin – who had just turned 18 – finished a surprising second place behind Nathan Chen, making a strong case for inclusion on the team. But the selection committee – which did not have to choose based on results alone – instead opted for experience and chose former Olympians Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown – the third and fourth place finishers at the national championships – to join Chen in Beijing and make Malinin the first. varied.
It worked for the US – it won team gold after Russian skater Kamila Valieva was disqualified and her score deducted – but it meant Malinin had to wait for his Olympic debut.
Since then, he has skyrocketed to the top of the sport. After the Olympics, the Americans sent Malinin to the 2022 World Championships, where he finished ninth. He then competed at the World Junior Championships and won gold for his first major victory.
From there he competed full-time in the senior circuit. The 2022-2023 season brought gold at the US Championships and bronze at World Championships and the Grand Prix Final, as well as his first successful quad axel. Now, in 2024, he is unbeatable – World Championships, Grand Prix Final, US Championships – gold in total.
Before Malinin rocketed up the rankings, he was recognized for an unprecedented move. Until September 15, 2022, no figure skater had landed a fully rotated quadruple axel – four full spins in the air from the axel jump, which is considered the most difficult in the sport and starts facing forward, requiring an additional half rotation to complete .
That changed when Malinin let it loose at an event in Lake Placid, NY
History. Made.🤯
17-year-old Ilia Malinin 🇺🇸 becomes the first figure skater to land a quadruple Axel during a competition.
Full story ➡️ https://t.co/cIHBkGIZFH#Figureskatingpic.twitter.com/jysyCrF0lr
— The Olympic Games (@Olympic Games) September 15, 2022
He has since repeated this feat several times and goes by the nickname “Quadg0d” on Instagram in honor of the achievement. He has said in interviews that he is considering trying a five-way version of the jump.
It’s his signature move, but far from the extent of his skills. Malinin’s athletic routines have produced huge scores, including a world record free skate at this year’s World Championships. He wasted no time in breaking out a backflip in the competition in October, after a ban on the move – which had been in place since 1977 – was lifted earlier this year.
Can we talk about Ilia Malinin casually doing a backflip very quickly in his program? 🫨 #SkateAmerica pic.twitter.com/vcafwJn2yZ
— NBC Olympic and Paralympic Games (@NBCOlympics) October 21, 2024
Malinin finished 2024 with seven wins in seven events. In any case, he hasn’t finished outside the top three since the 2022 World Championships, which he competed in after missing Beijing. And the next big event will take place on his home court: the 2025 worlds will be in Boston from March 23 to 30.
Another year of competition awaits until the Olympic Games start in Milan in February 2026, time for another top contender such as Kagiyama or France’s Adam Siao Him Fa – the bronze medalist at last year’s world championships who missed this Grand Prix final by a injury – to chase Malinin. down. But the American enters 2025 as the clear number 1 in the sport.
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(Photo: Jurij Kodrun / International Skating Union via Getty Images)