After 'game-changing' season, Ilia Malinin aims to add more layers to his skating
The 18-year-old American won a bronze medal at the World Championships, but wants to further his artistry on the ice he told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview.
Figure Skating
Just over a year after being a virtual unknown on the senior international figure skating scene, 18-year-old American Ilia Malinin is the world bronze medallist – and reflecting on what he calls “one of the most game-changing years of my life.”
Six months after he landed skating’s first-ever quadruple Axel, he hit another at last month’s ISU World Figure Skating Championships, helping him to land on the podium with champion Uno Shoma and silver medallist Cha Jun-hwan.
“It’s crazy that last season I was talking about how I really wanted to be on that podium at Worlds, and now it's really become a reality,” Malinin said in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com.
“Shoma has inspired me to try to be better than myself and always push the limits. And Jun, he's one of my best friends... he’s been working hard.”
The hard work for himself, Malinin said, will come in the off-season, as he continues to drill down on improving his artistry, which stagnated on the scoresheet this season. The self-appointed “Quad God” knows he needs to be more than just big jumping.
“I'm really hoping that there will be a lot more progress with my artistry,” Malinin said. “I want people to see my artistry and that I’m not only some guy who's jumping.”
Ilia Malinin builds for the future
It was at the outset of the season that Malinin made history with that quad Axel, the jump that Hanyu Yuzuru had chased in the leadup to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, then kept hitting it as he made his debut on the Grand Prix Series.
In January, the jump escaped Malinin at U.S. nationals, but he still captured his first title there, and arrived in Saitama, Japan, among the favourites for world gold.
“With landing the quad Axel, medalling [at Worlds] and getting that U.S. title, it's definitely changed how I look at skating,” said Malinin, who is coached by his parents – both former Olympic skaters themselves – in Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov.
“It really means so much with them being on my side and [helping me] to get where I am right now,” Malinin said of his parents. “They're always trying to push me... to push myself to be the best that I can be. And I'm just really grateful for that.”
But as the Malinin team looks for Ilia to make that next jump (not the quad kind) in his skillset, they’ve engaged coach Rafael Arutunian and – perhaps more importantly – choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne to help him round out his skating presentation.
Having been with Bourne for a year out of their training base in Irvine, California, Malinin can feel the change coming to fruition - even as it happens slowly.
“I think that my idea has really changed... I've really wanted to develop this artistic and creative side,” he said. “So it's really helped me progress and to get all those achievements that I have.”
Malinin: The main goal 'is to stay healthy'
The challenge for Malinin, however, is that both Uno and Cha have committed to bettering themselves in the season to come, which is likely to see the return of Olympic medallist Kagiyama Yuma off of an injury-filled year, among others.
Malinin has spent the weeks since Worlds still in Japan, touring with Stars on Ice and gleaning experience off of the likes of Uno, compatriot Jason Brown, Malinin’s hero in Hanyu and others – like women’s world champ Sakamoto Kaori and ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
This season concludes with the World Team Trophy this weekend (13-16 April) in Tokyo. Malinin and teammate Brown will skate for the U.S. men in the six-team event.
The 2023-24 season will mark the halfway point to the coming Olympic Winter Games Milano-Cortina 2026, which Malinin has previously spoken about medal goals for.
He now seeks balance in that run-up: Improved artistry, more experience and – most importantly – to stay injury-free.
“One of the main goals is to try to stay healthy,” he said. “Of course, you can't really just hold back, you still have to push yourself. But you have to be mindful and careful of how much effort you put in. That way you don't overwork things.”