Redemption Arc Begins for Quad God with Third-Straight World Figure Skating Championship

Image courtesy of The Guardian.

By Bryan Kotlar

Following a heartbreaking performance at the Olympics last month, Ilia Malinin returned to the world stage in Prague, Czechia, and did not disappoint.

On March 28, Malinin entered the free skate in first place, setting a personal best in the short program of 111.29 points. With a commanding 9.44 point lead, Malinin once again had the pressure to deliver. Having previously competed at three World Championships, leaving with two gold and a bronze in his 2023 debut, Malinin was used to this pressure.

After a surprising Olympic performance, Malinin opted for a more conservative approach. The 21-year-old skated to a medley in the free skate, performing with artistic precision and incredible intensity, opening with a gorgeous quadruple flip. This was the first of the planned five quadruple jumps. Notably, Malinin did not attempt his famous quad Axel. Instead, a well-executed triple took its place.

In figure skating, there is a ten percent bonus for all jumping passes in the second half of the program. Malinin took full advantage of this, piling up points from three quad combinations. In particular, the highest-scoring element of the competition was his breathtaking quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination, which earned 18.33 points.

After the jumping was complete, Malinin continued to entertain the crowd with a fast step sequence, signature blackflip, and a “raspberry twist” aerial.

“I was honestly taking everything one step at a time, and the whole mindset in that program was let’s just finish the program in one piece,” Malinin said in an interview following his performance Saturday. “So that’s exactly what I thought. I fought for everything, fought for every element.”

Malinin topped the podium with 218.11 points in the free skate and 329.40 points overall in men’s singles. While this is 20 points under his personal best from the 2025 Grand Prix Final, where he landed a historic seven quads in a single program, this competition was about redemption. Malinin focused on executing all elements cleanly and achieved it, except for a quarter under-rotation on a quad Lutz in a combination. His season featured historic records, Olympic triumph, and heartbreak, but ended on a win.

He has also now joined the exclusive threepeat club alongside David Jenkins (1957-59) and Nathan Chen (2018-19, 2021). Malinin is now one World title away from Hayes Jenkins (1953-56) and Scott Hamilton (1981-84). He is still two years behind Dick Button with five consecutive World titles (1948-52) and the record for a U.S. man, but only time will tell.

“I felt relieved that the season’s finally done after a long up and down for this whole season,” Malinin said. “I’m glad to be here at the World Championships. It was a different change of mindset to come here. All I wanted to do was skate for myself, enjoy every moment on the ice, and just have fun out there, and that’s exactly what I did.”

With the competitive season coming to an end, Malinin’s immediate schedule includes appearances in the Stars on Ice – Japan tour (April 4–5 in Osaka, April 11–12 in Tokyo) and the Stars on Ice – US tour (starting April 16 in Fort Myers, FL). The next competitive season typically starts in the fall with Grand Prix events.

Only time will tell what Malinin will accomplish next season. In Zurich’s Art on Ice, following the Olympics, Malinin landed the quad Axel numerous times in warmup and into a triple toe loop combination, the same quad axel he stumbled on with the world watching. Then a clip surfaced of a quad lutz directly into a quad loop, back-to-back quadruples—a combination almost nobody attempts in competition, done in warm-ups at an entertainment show. Malinin has clearly cemented his place in history by pushing the limits in figure skating, and the future looks bright.