MILAN — U.S. figure skating superstar Ilia Malinin has nearly every accolade in the sport. He’s a two-time world champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion and a four-time U.S. national champion. He’s the only person to ever complete a quadruple axel and regularly back flips on the ice — a move that was previously banned for close to 50 years.
The only thing that has eluded him so far is an Olympic gold medal in men’s singles. That could change Friday night when he competes for the honor at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Malinin is currently in first place with a 108.16 score, more than five points better than his biggest rival, Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama.
The Virginia native, 21, says he does not feel a responsibility to push the boundaries of the sport.
“It’s more like a passion and being able to show how I am as a person, and express myself through my technical abilities or my artistic values,” he said after Tuesday’s short program. “I always tell people that figure skating is an extension of your personality, and everyone should have that in their skating. That is what can make skating so beautiful and intimate.”
American teammates Maxim Naumov — who lost both of his parents in the plane crash outside Washington D.C. last year — and Andrew Torgashev will also compete Friday night. But the headliner is Malinin, a heavy gold-medal favorite nicknamed “The Quad God” for his ability to consistently land a move never before completed in competition.
When asked about potentially going even further and attempting a quintuple jump, he didn’t immediately dismiss the question.
“Maybe, maybe not,” he said. “I am thinking about it — not doing it or doing it. I will keep you guys on your toes. Physically, I think I’m ready. If the time is right, you might see it.”
Former Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski says even with a lead, he likely won't have a conservative routine.
"The great thing about Ilia is he's very competitive," she said on "TODAY" on Friday.
"He usually doesn't hold back and he has technical content planned in this program that no one can touch. He's usually 15 to 20 points ahead. Now with a five-point lead, he's sitting in a very cushy spot.
"If I know Ilia in any way after watching him compete for this many years, I think he's going to throw out that signature quad axel. I think he's going to go for seven quads."
If Malinin wins gold, he would become the third American man to win this event at the past five Olympics after Evan Lysacek in 2010 and Nathan Chen in 2022. Malinin took gold earlier this week as part of the team event.
Naumov doesn’t enter with the same pressure as Malinin but has already exceeded expectations in his mind. There was a chance he wasn’t even going to be in Milan competing.
“I wasn’t thinking about executing anything perfectly,” he said after the short program on Tuesday. “I just wanted to go out there and skate my heart out, really leave everything out there. I have no regrets after the end of that program.”
When his 85.65 score was read after his performance, he held up a photograph of himself with his parents from the first time he was on the ice at 3 years old.
“I carry it so I’d never forget about it,” he said this week. “I wanted them to sit in the ‘kiss and cry’ with me and experience the moment, look up at the scores. They deserve to be sat right next to me, like they always have been.”
