**The Allure of Figure Skating: Ilia Malinin’s Journey to Redefine the Sport**
*By [Author Name]*
*Irvine, CA*
The allure of figure skating captivates millions—even those who might not know Axel Paulsen from Ulrich Salchow. What sets figure skating apart and gives it a life beyond the Olympic Games every four years is its unique ability to tell a story. More than any other sport, skating carries a cinematic quality, complete with its own soundtrack.
“That’s what makes skating unique compared to, let’s say, hockey or something that’s based on a clock,” said Shae-Lynn Bourne, a former world champion ice dancer for Canada and one of the sport’s top choreographers. “We get to express. So it’s kind of our athletic art.”
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### Ilia Malinin: The Quad God and Storyteller
Ilia Malinin, figure skating’s current sensation and self-proclaimed “Quad God,” first emerged earlier this decade as the sport’s next great action hero. This teenage prodigy can leap seemingly impossibly high and complete 4 ½ rotations before landing. In September 2022, at just 18 years old, Malinin became the first person to successfully land a quadruple Axel—the sport’s most difficult jump—in competition. Two-time Olympian Johnny Weir compared this landmark feat to the first moon landing.
“He is beyond out of this world,” said Jason Brown, a 2022 Olympian.
In 2024, Malinin won his first World title in Montreal by breaking the free skate world record previously held by 2022 Olympic champion Nathan Chen. At the World Championships in Boston, he successfully defended his title by becoming the first person to land all six of skating’s jumps as quads.
Russian coaching legend Tatiana Tarasova, who has mentored more Olympic and world champions than any other figure skating coach, praised Malinin’s unmatched abilities. “Right now, he has no rivals, and back then, there wouldn’t have been any either,” she told Sport24. “In the past, top athletes were only performing one or two quadruple jumps at best.”
Malinin, who turned 21 last month, is the face of the sport, the marquee name at the upcoming Olympic Games in Milan—opening a month from Tuesday—and the U.S. Championships this week in St. Louis. Yet, he is determined to keep evolving, on the ice and as an artist.
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### More Than Athleticism: The Emotional Maturity of Malinin’s Skating
While Malinin’s athleticism and biomechanics make the Milano Ice Skating Arena his personal launchpad, the true highlight of this Olympic season has been the maturity and emotional bravery in his performances.
Malinin’s strength lies not only in landing the inconceivable but in his imagination and courage to take skating to previously uncharted emotional territories. His current free skate and short programs are autobiographical, tracing his personal path to Milan and beyond. These programs reveal a young adult willing to openly admit that, despite mastering every jump, he still lacks all the answers but embraces life’s uncertainties.
Interspersed within his free skate’s music is Malinin’s own voice. “The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing,” he says in one segment. At another moment, he declares, “Embrace the storm.”
“It’s like both programs have the idea of being a process of changing and becoming a better person,” Malinin said after a training session at Great Park Ice in Irvine, his training ground when visiting from Virginia. “The short program represents the physical battles you have to go through in change. The long program dives deeper psychologically.”
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### The Influence of Choreography
Both programs are a testament to the influence of Bourne and coach Rafael Arutyunyan, alongside Malinin’s evolving perspective of skating and life.
“I really believe that the story they’re skating about—being present, committed, and having meaning to every move—is what ties everything together and draws the audience in,” said Bourne, who choreographed both programs.
“The judges are just another audience. If you captivate the people, you captivate everyone. You have to tell stories. It’s like a movie, only two to four minutes long. You want people to feel something and remember what you did—whether it made them quiet, clap, or emotionally involved.”
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### “The Lost Crown”: Malinin’s Short Program
Titled *The Lost Crown*, Malinin’s short program is packed with action and embodies the story of a warrior—his ultimate alter ego.
“There’s a magical quality where he possesses extra abilities to be an ultimate warrior,” Bourne explained. “He’s coming from the desert, laying low—a mysterious beginning that mirrors his early life. Training is a grind; it’s not pretty, it burns. Some days you question yourself. This is about starting the journey, becoming the strongest version of yourself.”
As the music shifts, the program transitions into a battle—a survival of the fittest. The finale bursts into an explosive groove, showing Malinin as the ultimate warrior, competing against no one but himself. “That is the competition—to be your best self.”
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### “A Voice”: Malinin’s Free Skate Program
The free skate, named *A Voice*, is a deeply personal and contemplative program blending Malinin’s own recorded words with music compositions.
“It felt fitting for where he’s at in life,” Bourne said. “He just turned 21 and is exploring big questions about life.”
Malinin worked with Bourne’s husband, Bohdan Turok—a director, producer, and screenwriter—to record his voice for the piece. “Ilia wanted to say something meaningful with his own voice,” Bourne explained. “My husband helped guide the choice of words, directing how Ilia delivers it—just like choreography directs movement.”
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### A Young Man in Search of Himself
“It’s definitely something I’ve noticed in my life—I see things differently now,” Malinin said. “I relate things in a deeper way. It comes from maturity and life experiences.”
What is Malinin’s current reality?
“My reality is getting ready to compete in the Olympics and going for gold,” he answered with a grin.
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### A Skating Legacy and a Late Start
Raised at the rink, Malinin’s destiny wasn’t always certain. Both his parents—Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov—were Olympians for Uzbekistan. Malinina won the 1999 Grand Prix Final and Four Continents championship; Skorniakov was a seven-time national champion.
The couple moved to the U.S. in 2000 and were coaching when Ilia was born four years later in Fairfax, Virginia. Malinin first took to the ice at six but was initially more interested in soccer, idolizing Brazilian star Neymar.
His grandfather, Valery Malinin—a former Soviet skater turned coach—advised his parents not to pressure Ilia but to let him find his passion.
“They didn’t force me,” Malinin said. “They wanted me to choose my own path, but I grew up surrounded by ice. Eventually, I tried skating and loved it.”
He decided to get serious about skating at age 12, recognizing his rapid progress. After conversations with his parents, they committed more time and effort to his training. Arutyunyan, who coached Olympic champion Nathan Chen, remains part of his coaching team.
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### Rising Through the Ranks and Overcoming Injury
Malinin won the U.S. juvenile title in 2016 and the intermediate crown a year later. In 2018, he claim the Asian Open Trophy’s advanced novice title. However, injuries sidelined him during the 2020 and 2021 U.S. Championships.
“That was a concern,” Malinin acknowledged. “But now, I have a solid, strategic training plan to prevent injuries and keep improving.”
His breakthrough came at the 2022 U.S. Championships in Nashville, skating four quad jumps to clinch second place. Though the Olympic selection committee passed him over that year, choosing Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown alongside Chen for the Beijing Olympics, Malinin persevered.
“I wasn’t expecting to skate that well or place second,” he said. “Not being named to the team was tough because everyone believed I should go. Looking back, maybe not going saved my career.”
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### Breaking Boundaries: The Quad Axel and Beyond
On the world stage, Malinin continued to shatter records. Canada’s Kurt Browning made history landing the first quadruple jump in 1988, but the quadruple Axel remained elusive due to its extreme technical difficulty—four and a half rotations taking off from a forward outside edge.
When asked in 2018 if anyone would ever land a quad Axel, Nathan Chen said it was “doable” but unlikely anytime soon.
Three and a half years later, at the U.S. International Classic in September 2022, Malinin stunned the figure skating world by landing the first quad Axel in competition.
“Four-point-five revolutions in the blink of an eye,” Weir marveled. “The craziest thing on ice.”
Malinin continued raising the bar, becoming the youngest male to win Skate America that season, landing a quad Axel. He further pushed boundaries by landing all six quads in competition at the 2023 Grand Prix Final—shattering his own free skate world record of 238.24, nearly fourteen points above Chen’s previous mark.
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### Legacy in the Making
With three of the top five total competition scores above 330 points, Malinin’s technical prowess makes comparisons to past champions like Alexei Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko obsolete.
“Plushenko, Yagudin, and Malinin are entirely different,” Tarasova told Sport24. “Malinin’s technical abilities are unmatched.”
Looking ahead, Malinin is driven to keep improving. “I haven’t reached my very top level yet,” he said. “I want to skate for at least three more Olympic cycles if my body allows it.”
He even hinted at attempting a quintuple jump after Milan.
“Who knows? Maybe a fourth or fifth Olympics. I want to go as long as my passion and body hold out.”
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### The Story Malinin Tells
For Malinin, figure skating is a personal journey—embracing struggle, uncertainty, and triumph with courage.
“Watching him perform now, the programs become more real and meaningful each time,” Bourne said. “He dives into the unknown, the darkness—and finds light within. He doesn’t take the easy road. He trusts his voice, embraces both the good and the bad.”
Malinin’s story is one of authenticity and resilience, inspiring audiences to accept life in all its complexities—on and off the ice.
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*Photo Credit: [If available]*
*Tags: #IliaMalinin #FigureSkating #Olympics #QuadAxel #U.S.Championships #IceDance #SportsStorytelling*
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2026/01/05/winter-olympics-ilia-malinin-is-ready-to-tell-his-story/
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