Ilia Malinin dazzled the world at the World Championships in Prague, not only claiming gold in the men’s singles for a third straight year but also sparking a conversation about diversity in figure skating. With this victory, he became the first American men’s skater since Nathan Chen to achieve three consecutive world titles.
The triumph in Prague was a mental breakthrough for Malinin, especially after the disappointment of missing the podium in the men’s singles at the Milan Olympics in February.
Ilia Malinin Discusses Diversity in Figure Skating
At the World Championships, Malinin put on a strong performance in both the free skate and the short program. He set a personal best of 111.29 in the short program to take a huge lead, then went on to secure the gold medal with a free skate score of 218.11.
In an interview after the World Championships had concluded, Malinin was asked about his legacy in the sport, to which he said:
“One thing I’d really love to leave for figure skating is to really be the reason why everyone should love figure skating. Because this is something that comes from all of us. It’s inside us, and we all skate differently, we all present ourselves differently, and it’s something that’s really important about figure skating. It’s the diversity and inclusion of everyone.”
Behind Malinin, it was Yuma Kagiyama of Japan (306.67) who grabbed silver, with Shun Sato of Japan securing bronze (288.54) to round out the podium.
Malinin Opens Up About Pressure at the Olympics
The Milan Games marked Malinin’s first-ever Olympic appearance. Despite finishing second at the 2022 U.S. Championships, Malinin was not selected for Team USA at the Beijing Olympics, a decision that was widely criticized.
In an interview with Olympics.com, Malinin spoke about how he felt competing in Milan, where he finished in eighth place overall.
“I didn’t understand how much that you know pressure was really gonna get to me. I definitely thought I had it under control and I was gonna be there… but for some reason, I really didn’t understand it.”
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Malinin revealed his ambition to land the quad Axel, his signature jump, in pursuit of Olympic gold. Yet, missed quads and a fall on a repeated quad Lutz kept that dream just out of reach.
“I definitely wanted it because I wanted to write that down in history. To do that out there was part of my goals.”
Things were not all bad for Malinin in Milan, though, as he did mark his Olympic debut by winning gold as part of Team USA in the figure skating team event.