‘Quad God’ Ilia Malinin wins third straight world title after Olympic heartbreak
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Looks like “Quadruple God” Ilia Malinin has done well to put Olympic heartbreak behind him.
Last month, the 21-year-old Team USA star was the overwhelming favorite to bring home the gold medal in the men’s free skate. But the unimaginable happened as he fell twice and dropped to eighth place.
However, he began to avenge his loss and is now a three-time world champion.
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Ilia Malinin of the United States competes during the men’s free skate at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Malinin shouted and punched the air in relief after finishing the skate, which showed that he had achieved the desire to “move on” from the Olympics after being tormented by his mistakes for days.
Malinin, who scored 218.11 points in the free skate, received a total of 329.40 points, leaving behind silver medalist Japanese Yuma Kagiyama’s 306.67 points. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, came third with a score of 288.54.
Speaking to NBC afterward, Malinin was frank about his Olympic performance, simply saying “I blew it” and saying it was a clear mental disability throughout.
“Right before I got into my starting pose, a lot of thoughts and memories flooded in and I almost think it overwhelmed me a little bit. I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of bad and good experiences,” Malinin told reporters.
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin of the United States waves to the audience following the medal ceremony after the men’s free skate at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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“So I feel the pressure, especially of being an Olympic gold medal hopeful. That’s something I can’t control right now. The pressure of the Olympics, it’s a really different thing and I think a lot of people don’t understand that. They just understand it from the inside and going into this competition, especially today, I felt really confident, really good,” she added. “But it really went by so fast I didn’t have time to process it.”
However, after recovering from the pressure a bit, Malinin was able to show who he really was on the ice.
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin of the United States waves before the medal ceremony after the men’s free skate at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Malinin became the first skater to win three consecutive men’s world titles since American Nathan Chen, who achieved the feat in 2018, 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jackson Thompson of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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