Ilia Malinin has flipped the script on his skating, but says, “There’s always more to do”
After three seasons of work with choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne, the 19-year-old sees artistic focus pay off
Figure Skating
After winning the world title last season, American figure skater Ilia Malinin is trying to flip his skating on its head.
No, this isn’t another article about how the 19-year-old is adding a backflip into his free skate, though he does plan to do just that – with, unsurprisingly, his own take on the element.
“The main idea why I decided to add it was just kind of a coincidence that I wanted to learn this backflip so I could do it in shows when I heard that… they allowed backflips into normal competitions,” said Malinin, who credits a gymnastics background for his ease in learning the daring trick, in a press availability ahead of this week’s Skate America.
“From there, I just came up with the idea that maybe I’ll add it into my program, as well.
“I’m thinking of ways to really level it up as well in the future,” he added later. "Like, adding a twist or some crazy other combination.”
But perhaps, more importantly, Malinin is trying to flip the script (pun very much intended) on his skating.
Ilia Malinin: More than the 'Quad God'
Hailed for years as a trickster – Malinin is the first skater to successfully land a quadruple Axel, and his technical element score at last year’s Worlds was more than 20 points higher than his nearest competitor – he’s worked with Shae-Lynn Bourne for the past three seasons to hone his program components.
Malinin says that the way he and Bourne work together has evolved.
In past seasons, Bourne has come to the skater with musical suggestions.
This season, however, was different, with Malinin bringing music by Falling in Reverse that he loved to a sceptical Bourne. He had previously been set on skating to Beethoven’s Für Elise, he says.
“My parents were just scrolling through, listening to music, and they found this crazy piece of music that I really liked from the start,” explained Malinin. “I’m really satisfied with the program, and I really enjoyed skating it myself.
“I think from the first time I worked with [Bourne], it was pretty obvious that I really enjoyed being able to collaborate with her during the programs,” he continued. “Because nowadays, mainly, I always have some ideas of my own that I want to share with her, and she also has hers. When we do the programs, we kind of play around with things until they look cool, and they feel comfortable for me.”
"I'm really proud of myself," says Malinin
It's been no secret that he wants to improve the in-between elements of his skating, and that’s been a major focus for him, but already this year, Malinin has seen the work pay off.
At his 2024 opener, the Lombardia Trophy, he had the highest program components scores in the competition and personal bests, ahead of world and Olympic silver medallist Kagiyama Yuma.
Though Malinin doesn’t see the man who finished runner-up to him last season at Worlds as a rival, he is keeping a keen eye on Kagiyama, who has been working with former world champion and 2014 Olympic bronze medallist Carolina Kostner since last year.
“I really love Yuma’s programs and the skating,” the American said. “I think that they’ve improved also since last season, so I’m really looking forward to competing against him later in the season.”
Those two won’t likely meet again until December’s Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France.
Until then, Malinin will have his full technical arsenal on display – including that much-hyped backflip – at both Skate America and (then the following week) Skate Canada. But he also brings hard-earned improvement elsewhere in his skating.
“I see the improvement really big in those components, and I’m really proud of myself,” he said.
That doesn’t mean he sees his work as done – far from it.
“I know there’s always a lot more to do in everything,” adds Malinin. “I always have that mindset where I want to try to get better and better.”