Ilia Malinin poised to open his pre-Olympic season at Lombardia Trophy 2024
The 19-year-old will compete for the first time since claiming his first world title.
Figure Skating
American figure skating world champion Ilia Malinin is set to make his 2024-25 season debut this week at the Lombardia Trophy event in Bergamo, Italy. The competition, which runs 13-15 September, is part of the International Skating Union’s Challenger Series.
It will also be the first time Malinin, just 19, has competed since capturing the world title last season in Montreal.
He’ll try to capitalize on the confidence – and momentum – that win gave him as the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina near.
“[This Worlds] really showed that if I just trust myself and trust the training that I do, trust the muscle memory... that I can really achieve anything,” he told Olympics.com after his world title win. “And that really gives me a lot of motivation to try and progress rapidly in the next few seasons before the Olympics.”
Ever the technical master – including as the first skater to successfully compete a quadruple Axel – Malinin says that progress ahead of the Games will be focused on the presentation side of the sport.
“For the next chapter of my skating... I want to try to find my style of skating,” he says. “I think that I still am kind of struggling to find that perfect [style], I guess for me, because when I look back at how I skate, sometimes I don't really enjoy watching myself in that artistry aspect.
“I think that's what I'll spend the next season [and the season following], before the Olympics, working on that, trying to find that sweet spot.”
That work begins this week in Italy.
The men’s short program is set for Friday (13 September).