History-maker Ilia Malinin ready for global spotlight

The moment in figure skating history that many had anticipated at Beijing 2022 in February instead took place in front of a few hundred fans in Lake Placid, New York, last month.

Two-time Olympic champion Hanyu Yuzuru’s quest for the quadruple Axel was well-documented, but the trailblazing Japanese skater fell short on his attempt at the jump – never done before in competition – during this year’s Olympic Winter Games.

Seven months later, 17-year-old American Ilia Malinin, who says Hanyu is the “reason [he] started skating,” landed the jump at a small-level international event, making him the first skater to ever do so.

And, in turn, the teen announced himself as one of the standout skaters to watch as the sport moves into a new Olympic quadrennial and gears up for Milano Cortina 2026.

“At first it was a kind of a joke: 'Oh, to land a quad Axel! Let's see',” Malinin, who trains in Virginia and Southern California, told reporters on a conference call ahead of Skate America at the start of the 2022/23 elite season.

“But I think that a little while after that I started to realize that it might actually be possible. I just hope that I can keep landing it this season.”

Malinin’s booming arrival

While the quad Axel gets the headlines (see above), Malinin as a whole skater is what has turned heads. He kicked down the door at the 2022 U.S. Championships last January, soaring to silver and complicating the American Olympic team selection process for Beijing. (He ended up off the team due to a lack of senior international experience.)

“I’m really glad I had a chance to compete against [him],” said reigning world champion and three-time Olympic medallist Uno Shoma earlier this month, after the two skated at the Japan Open. “I found someone who can be the new bar for me. He’s made me want to get better so I don’t get left behind. I’m so grateful to have him."

Those are strong words coming from a reigning world champion, but Uno has always been one to praise his peers, including Hanyu and current Olympic champion Nathan Chen, who has stepped away from competition to return to college.

“I was just a little kid watching Shoma [and] now I’m competing with him,” Malinin said after hearing Uno's comments.

“And for him to call me a challenge is... I actually get shown how much I've progressed in skating. It just makes me really happy.”

Malinin followed up his U.S. silver with a ninth-place showing at the World Championships in Montpellier before going on to claim the world junior title a few weeks later.

He is set to skate his first fully senior season this year, being named for the first Grand Prix of the 2022/23 season, Skate America, this weekend (21-23 Oct. in the Boston area) after capturing gold at the aforementioned U.S. International Classic in September.

He will also compete at a second Grand Prix in Finland next month.

While whispers swirl of what could be for Malinin in the coming years, he and his team are keeping it simple: It’s all about the process – and improving bit by bit.

“My main goal [moving forward] in the sport is to definitely try to improve in every aspect, even if it's a little bit,” he said. “I think that that's really a good goal... to try to keep pushing myself to be better than I am the season before.”

MORE: Full preview of Skate America | What to watch for this season

All in the (Olympic) family

Malinin has stated his intent to steer away from his “quadg0d” handle on Instagram and the reputation of a big-jumping machine in part by bringing on Shae-Lynn Bourne, the former ice dancer and respected choreographer.

Bourne has been added to team Malinin via Rafael Arutunian, the former coach to Chen. Malinin makes trips to Irvine, California, on a regular basis to work with Arutunian – and this season Bourne oversaw the choreography process for his free skate, Euphoria.

Malinin said there has been a considered focus on “the second score,” which in figure skating speak means presentation or artistry. He is working more on his skating skills, movement on the ice, connection of elements, and choreography.

He’d like to be the complete package.

That process has been guided by his parents and coaches, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov. Malinina represented Uzbekistan at the Olympic Winter Games Nagano 1998, placing eighth, and was fourth at the World Championships in 1999.

Skorniakov, who – like his eventual wife – was born in the Soviet Union, skated for Russia before switching Uzbekistan, finished in 19th at both the 1998 Games as well as at Salt Lake City 2002.

They are priceless mentors for Malinin, who was born in Virginia, USA, as he makes a play to become one of the best skaters in the world.

“It's definitely helped me a lot,” Malinin said of his parents’ experiences. “I've noticed that they usually tell me a lot about things that I shouldn't worry so much about and more about just to focus on my own skating. And I think that that's really helping me with going through this process of being an athlete.”

He added with a smile: “I'm getting into the family tradition. I find it very exciting.”

He says he has only seen clips of his parents’ skating careers and never full programs. He’d like to follow their footsteps to the Winter Olympic Games come 2026.

Playing the long game – in the spotlight

Malinin has made it clear in the last few months: He’d like to be in Milano Cortina in 2026 and he'd like to be standing on the Olympic podium, but first he will have to deal with the spotlight of being – potentially – the top American man in a field that currently lacks Chen and his Olympic teammates Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown.

“It's sad for me to see [that group] moving away from skating, [because] I was hoping to have a lot more time to try and compete with them,” Malinin said of the Beijing trio. “But I think that right now with them leaving and all the eyes being on me, [it’s] putting a lot of pressure [on me]. I think I'll be able to overcome it by just focusing on myself and doing what I know best while focusing on my training.”

Certainly all eyes will be on Malinin at Skate America, where he is among the favourites at the Boston Skating Club in Norwood, Mass., a small venue which has reported sell-out numbers for the first Grand Prix of the season.

Will Malinin do the much-talked-about quad Axel? From the sounds of it – it’s unlikely.

“As of right now, I think we're not really so sure what to do with [the jump]", he said. “For now, I think it's more of practice instead of actually trying to put anything into the [long] program.”

The focus at Skate America? A clean performance, Malinin kept saying, mentioning that he could do as many as five quads in the free skate, but not the seven he played with prior to Japan Open.

And while in the past he has called out Chen and Hanyu as early heroes of his, Malinin appears to be working hard to find his own path in a sport that celebrates individuality and expression.

“I think that it would be very helpful for me to find my own style in skating,” he said. “As of right now, I'm not really so certain [what I want]. I'm sort of in the process of finding my own style as to what is best for me in putting out the best presentation or artistry in my performances.”

“So I think that I am currently in the process of working on that.”