Ilia Malinin: On his debut at figure skating worlds, missing the USA Olympic team, and goals for 2026

Seventeen-year-old Ilia Malinin is looking for a statement performance at this week's World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier, France.

The American figure skater wow domestic fans just over two months ago at the U.S. Championships, when he landed six quadruple jumps across two programs to finish with the silver medal, behind only eventual Olympic champion Nathan Chen.

"It was definitely the best experience I've ever had," Malinin told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview earlier this month. "I felt really confident when I was getting on the ice and warming up before my skate. I definitely felt really prepared mentally and physically."

"And after I skated I was definitely relieved because that was like the best I've ever skated."

Malinin, however, was not selected for the U.S. Olympic team. The teen was named an alternate, with Chen, Vincent Zhou, and Jason Brown getting the nod for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, as the U.S. federation uses a criteria that focuses on an athlete's "body of work," which includes senior-level international competitions, something that Malinin lacks on his CV.

"I have to say that it was a bit disappointing," Malinin said. "I skated really well. I placed second, surprisingly. At first I just didn't really understand why I didn't go. There's other factors involved: Not only just skating nationals, [but] doing well the whole season and [other] experiences. It was a bit frustrating and like a bummer that I didn't get picked, but you can't really have that impact you. You just have to focus on like the next big thing."

That next big thing will be Worlds this week, set for 23-27 March. Malinin will join 2019 world bronze medallist Zhou and Camden Pulkinen on the U.S. team. Chen pulled out last week due to injury, and Malinin had been chosen over Brown for Worlds having not gotten the Olympic team nod.

Son of Olympians eyes 2026 berth

Malinin, who lives and trains primarily in Virginia, is the son of not one but two Olympic figure skaters: Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov. Both of them play a part in his coaching team, with Ilia saying his mother acts as the lead coach in his day-to-day training.

"It's really nice to have them... [they've] helped get me the mentality of starting to try to become a good athlete," Ilia said of parents. "[Most people] don't really see Olympians every day. they're my parents and coaches, so it's kind of a plus because they know what you feel, how you feel and they can relate to you more. It definitely helps my progression and our connection."

Malinin will look to make his mark in Montpellier much the way he did in Nashville: With his big-jumping ways and two complete, clean programs. He said that's always his goal - to skate clean - and that that sort of mindset and execution will bring him closer to bigger goals, including a national title and Milano-Cortina 2026.

"Who wouldn't want to go?" Malinin said when he was asked if he'd like to qualify for the next Winter Games. "We're not really too sure about what could happen during these [next] four years of preparing for the Olympics. But our goal is to just try to stay healthy and stay in shape so that I can potentially be as good as I am now. Or even better for the Olympics."

Read the full Q&A with Ilia.

After two injuries, Malinin shines in Nashville

Olympics.com: How have the past few weeks been with training in preparation for Worlds?

Ilia Malinin: Well, training has been really good. Every day I do at least two full program run throughs so that I have that consistency. We've been focusing on improving jumps and also focusing on improving spins, footwork, choreography - just so that the program looks neater and cleaner.

Olympics: Tell us about your goals. You go into Worlds not having had a lot of big international senior level competitions. How do you set goals for yourself there?

Malinin: Even though I haven't had as many senior competitions, I still know that if I just prepare well, and give it everything that I've got, then it can turn out really well. ... It is just basically how you think of it. You just need to have the right mindset to go in and get the best you possibly can [from yourself].

Olympics: Will you flashback to Nashville and explain what that experience was like? You skated so well on the national stage. How did you feel about that experience on the ice?

Malinin: The actual experience, it was definitely fun. And I was definitely relieved to come back to competing at nationals after two years that I have been injured and unfortunately had to miss those two nationals. [Malinin clarified that it was a stress fracture in his back that forced him out of nationals (and subsequently the Youth Olympics in 2020); he missed 2021 nationals due to an ankle injury.]

My goal for every competition is just to try to skate clean and do as best as I can. So I definitely put that out there at nationals,

Olympics: How would you describe your team? Is there one coach that's in charge or how do you all work together?

Malinin: My parents are the main coaches. I'd probably say my mom is the main coach because she's a lot more strict than me and it makes sense, you know... mothers are kind of strict on their children. So I mean, I guess it's just a family thing. Having my parents as coaches helps with everything because you feel more comfortable around them. And again, like I said, it's easy to relate [to them] and easy for them to see how I feel about everything.

It definitely helps having your parents be coaches.

[Malinin confirmed he is also coached part-time by Rafael Arutunian in Los Angeles. He travels there for work intermittently with Raf, who focuses in particular on his jumping.]

Olympics: How did growing up with Olympians as parents impact you? When did you truly realize what that meant?

Malinin: [I better understand] the process to go through to try and qualify for the Olympics. I know how much hard work, how much effort you have to put in and how to manage everything. It definitely helps out to where I am [at] in my skating right now.

Dreams of a U.S. national title

Olympics: Did you watch Beijing 2022? Were there performances that stood out? And how was that experience for you to watch it from home?

Malinin: Well, we did watch. We definitely watched the figure skating events, and to me Nathan [Chen] stood out the most. I'd probably say [Kagiyama] Yuma, too. [He] kind of relates to me because he's around my age group. He and I were competing against each other at junior worlds [in 2020]. We relate to each other.

I enjoyed watching the top five skaters in the Olympics. I mean, for the ladies... I'd say Alysa Liu. She gave her best. She definitely skated pretty well too.

Olympics: What sort of goals do you have for yourself?

Malinin: I think some of the first goals for the new season [is] we're always trying to get better - every season. I always try to think of when I'm getting new programs to have them be better than like the old programs that I had.

In terms of like competing in the actual competitions, then probably trying to get as much experience and as many competitions as possible and just keep that experience up.

Olympics: Are you someone who sets a goal, like you want to be a national champion. Or you want to achieve certain things? Or you're more like, 'I want to skate clean' and then whatever happens...

Malinin: My main goal is to skate clean. But I feel like sometimes just thinking, you know, skating clean is kind of hard to think of [all the time]. If I say, for example, 'I want to become national champion,' basically to get a national championship, you have to skate clean. So it ties in. It puts me in that mentality [of], 'If I want to win this, I have to skate the best and skate clean.'

Instagram, quad jumps and skateboarding

OC: Your Instagram is epic: It's literally just videos of you jumping. Where did that idea come from - sharing your quads? How much fun is it for you just to have that kind of as an outlet to share with your fans?

Malinin: At the start, before I had Instagram, my goal is to definitely try to be as unique as possible. [I like] trying to be doing some weird and really hard combinations. It's mostly just to try to impress people at the rink. But then once I got Instagram, I wanted to have a little bit fun with it. So I kind of just shared it out to everyone just to see what they think.

I definitely like doing all these jumps and combos a lot because it helps me boost my confidence and also helps with progress in my technical [skating]... so that - potentially in the future - I could do even harder stuff.

I try to push myself over the limit: I keep telling myself there isn't a limit. So that's why I just keep practicing things, you know? But with the combos and the jumps, if I have a really important competition, I wouldn't do [the combos] as much because the competition is more important.

Olympics: Is there any plan for you to try one of those crazy combos at worlds, in competition?

Malinin: I don't think there's a chance for me to try any of these combos for a competition at that high level and like that type of standard. I think it's best to do things that you can normally do on a daily basis and to try to skate clean again. And there's really no point to risk [it].

In terms of actually trying them in competitions, we'll see. We'll see how next year turns out. And potentially maybe I could try something like maybe a quad Axel or a quad-quad combination.

Olympics: What do you get up to away from the rink? How do you kind of take your mind off of skating and just get to be 17 and have a little bit of a life?

Malinin: I go to public school, so I gotta focus on not only on trying to be the best skater in the world, but also, trying to focus on getting good grades, trying to get a college, get a good job... In terms of hobbies, just to get my mind off of skating, on the weekends, I play some video games. I'll probably go skateboarding because I love the skateboard and I want to try to be good at it.

Also, I definitely take a lot of time to calm down. Kind of like a mental cool down just to, you know, like focus and say, 'Oh, this week was blah blah blah.' Let me just calm down and then prepare for next week.