U.S. Men 2025-26 Discussion - Quad God and the Mere Mortals

[Capt. DeSoto]

Thanks for all the others! Also Aleksandr Fegan 193

Fegan won't be senior eligible until the 2027-28 season.

 

[YukiNieve]

A very interesting 1-hour documentary about the rivalry between Ilia Malinin and Yuma Kagiyama was aired on Feb.1 by NHK in Japan - titled "神のジャンプ”に挑む 〜氷上決戦 マリニンと鍵山 (Challenging the “God's Jump” ~ The Battle on Ice: Malinin and Kagiyama)

I hope @TheIliaSociety uploads the whole clip. NHK did an AI analysis showing the differences between Ilia's 4A and other 3As in terms of height, distance and rotational speed. It also shows the process he was practicing to master 4A (very interesting).

https://x.com/TheIliaSociety/status/2018084075484090738

It also showed cute interactions among his family and cats.

@TheIliaSociety has been posting bits of clips from the documentary this post and above (they kindly have been adding English subtitles):

https://x.com/TheIliaSociety/status/2018082344486515025

 

[TanithandBenFan]

CBS Sunday Morning extended interview with Ilia

Extended Interview: Ilia Malinin

In this web exclusive, figure skating superstar Ilia Malinin talks with correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti in advance of the Winter Olympics. He talks about the artistry of his routines; having his parents (former Olympic skaters Roman Skorniakov and Tatiana Malinina) as coaches; and landing a...

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Sylvia]

Ilia's CBS Sunday Morning interview also is available in article format with both videos (what was aired + the extended version) embedded here:

Ilia Malinin on the pursuit of perfection

The four-time national figure skating champion from Virginia, the only person in the world to have landed a quad axel in competition, is the heavy favorite for gold at this year's Winter Olympics.

www.cbsnews.com

Here's Alice Park's TIME article that was published on 1/30/26:

How Ilia Malinin Became the Gold-Medal Favorite

The figure skater wasn't planning to follow in the footsteps of his Olympian parents. Now he's heading to Milan.

time.com

Excerpt:

To get to this point, Malinin spent time with reigning Olympic men’s champion Nathan Chen’s coach, Rafael Arutyunyan, in California, who provided tips on improving his toe loop and flip jumps, and perhaps most importantly, managing his energy during the program so he has the stamina to perform quadruple jump after quadruple jump, as he’s likely to do in Milan in his free program. Equally valuable to Malinin was observing and talking to Chen himself about what he did to get ready for the Beijing Olympics—“how he trained, how he prepared and how much time and effort he put into not only the jumps but everything you have to do in skating,” says Malinin. “It gave me an understanding of what I needed to do in my skating.”
While those jumps are certainly the big draw in watching Malinin, he also understands the importance of what comes between them. “I learned to find my own style, which I would explain as really a contemporary and effortless-looking style that makes things look easy, but at the same time, I want people to know that what any of us do is really hard,” he says. “It’s a judged sport, and not only is it super athletic and you have to have enough strength and energy to pull off these jumps and tricks, but you also have to make them look nice, clean, and effortless. That’s part of the competition.”

There's also an excellent article about Ilia, titled "The Man Who Broke Physics," by Sally Jenkins (formerly of the WaPo) in The Atlantic - it's paywalled but thanks to @BittyBug it can be read via a gift article link in Ilia's fan thread (post #777).

From Jackie Wong today (Ilia didn't jump in his first practice at the practice rink earlier today): "Malinin: marked runthrus, 2A, 3S, 3T, 3Lo(step), 3Lo, 3F, 3Lz(turn), 3Lz3T, 3Lz1Eu3F, 3T3T, 3S2A, 3A, 3S3A, 2S(step), 4S, 3T, 2T(step), 4Lo, 4Lo, 4F, 2Lz(turn), 4Lz, 4Lz3T, 4Lz1Eu3F, 4A, 4T(hangs on)2T(2ft), 4T(ftdwn)3T, 4S3A, 4T, 4T3T, 3T"

Zakarian's clip of Ilia's 4A in the main rink: https://x.com/TheIliaSociety/status/2018354003776782600

ETA:

Joosep Martinson on Instagram: "Ilia Malinin of 🇺🇸 during a training session on day minus four of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 02, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Joosep Martinson @gettysport )

550 likes, 4 comments - jmfotoz on February 2, 2026: "Ilia Malinin of 🇺🇸 during a training session on day minus four of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 02, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Joosep Martinson @gettysport ) #olympics...

www.instagram.com

 

[BittyBug]

There's also an excellent article about Ilia, titled "The Man Who Broke Physics," by Sally Jenkins (formerly of the WaPo) in The Atlantic - it's paywalled but thanks to @BittyBug it can be read via a gift article link in Ilia's fan thread (post #777).

Here’s the link again:

The Man Who Broke Physics

Even before competing in his first Olympics, 21-year-old Ilia Malinin has transformed the sport of figure skating.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[Badams]

Here’s the link again:

The Man Who Broke Physics

Even before competing in his first Olympics, 21-year-old Ilia Malinin has transformed the sport of figure skating.

www.theatlantic.com

At first glance, I thought that was a picture of Ed Sheeran

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Max is going to be on the Kelly Clarkson Show today!

The Kelly Clarkson Show on Instagram: "Coming up this week on Kelly! ➡️"

3,458 likes, 57 comments - kellyclarksonshow on February 1, 2026: "Coming up this week on Kelly! ➡️".

www.instagram.com

 

[YukiNieve]

Jason Brown talks about Ilia Malinin.

NBC Chicago on Instagram: "At the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics (coming to you live on NBC and Peacock), figure skater Ilia Malinin — known as the "Quad God" — will be going for his career-first Olympic gold medal. His scores are often so far a

514 likes, 8 comments - nbcchicago on February 6, 2026: "At the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics (coming to you live on NBC and Peacock), figure skater Ilia Malinin — known as the "Quad God" — will be going for his career-first Olympic gold medal. His scores are often so far ahead of his...

www.instagram.com

 

[ChillSkate]

I hate to see the way some of the US Media is covering Ilia's performance in the Team Event SP and his interview afterwards. Some of this reporting may have started with Christine Brennan but it has spread to other publications:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2026/02/07/ilia-malinin-olympics-second-place/

Headline: "Ilia Malinin gives 50 percent and finishes second in first Olympic skate
The “Quadg0d” wants to pace himself, but his slow start means the U.S. will have a fight to win the team gold."

Excerpts:

""That wasn’t, of course, the perfect idea, you know, 100 percent skate that I would want to have had, but for the standard I set myself today, I think I achieved that,” he said through a forced grin after his skate.

He was asked what he meant by the standard he had set for himself.

“Well, I presume to come into this team competition with only 50 percent of my full potential, so that’s what I felt like here today,” he replied.

His answer dangled flat in the haze of the arena’s basement. The only time Malinin has been anything less than full effort during his rise to the top came at last month’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships, when it was obvious he was going to make the American Olympic team and scaled back his free skate."

....

"He said, though, he wants to pace himself with the men’s singles events starting Tuesday. Still, his half-effort Saturday appears to have forced U.S. Figure Skating to use him again in Sunday’s men’s free skate."

....

"Now finally at the Olympics, Malinin has seemed distracted. He’s had to shoot television commercials and make appearances and meet sponsors. And while he has often said he wants to bring back skating’s former glory, there’s a difference between making such statements at a half-filled arena in Wichita with only a handful of reporters as opposed to the Olympics with its constant demands."

 

[mtnskater]

The media loves to tear down sports icons. Ignore them! Ilia I’m sure is trying not to burn out before the individual event. And he may be holding back a bit to achieve that. Most skaters skate their best when really attacking. Water under the bridge. Tomorrow will be exciting. Gracie Gold’s summary was the best!

 

[Allskate]

The media loves to tear down sports icons. Ignore them! Ilia I’m sure is trying not to burn out before the individual event. And he may be holding back a bit to achieve that. Most skaters skate their best when really attacking. Water under the bridge. Tomorrow will be exciting. Gracie Gold’s summary was the best!

ITA. He comes in second instead of first and they are eager to pounce. As Gracie said, it's like your steak being too juicy and your lobster being too buttery.

This is his usual SP content. I think he just got a little nervous and tight. He's got more pressure and expectations on him than anyone else. I don't think he was really giving it 50%, though I can see why he would want to tell himself that. He looked much better in the warmup.

ETA: Just realized that I had posted Gracie's entertaining summary of the TE in the TE thread, not here. Here it is:

U.S. Figure Skating on Instagram: "Skating bes𝙩𝙚𝙖 @graciegold95 is spilling a piping hot recap of Team Event Day 2 of #WinterOlympics! 🫖🔥"

1,389 likes, 18 comments - usfigureskating on February 7, 2026: "Skating bes𝙩𝙚𝙖 @graciegold95 is spilling a piping hot recap of Team Event Day 2 of #WinterOlympics! 🫖🔥".

www.instagram.com

 

[YukiNieve]

It's really a shame that the Washington Post, the local newspaper where Ilia lives, is describing the situation this way, since people living in the area will see the article, although most of us no longer subscribe to the Post anymore. I was going to buy a copy tomorrow, but I won't.

 

[Sylvia]

It's really a shame that the Washington Post, the local newspaper where Ilia lives, is describing the situation this way [article by Les Carpenter, link posted above]

I thought Robert Samuels' analysis, published today, was spot on (this is a gifted link from his X account).

The press corps of more than two dozen seemed more freaked out about what transpired than Malinin himself. “It’s the Olympics,” he insisted, suggesting that reporters chill out. It will be interesting to see just how much chill Malinin shows at the team‑event final on Sunday.

Samuels also posted an explanation while walking in Milan:

Robert Samuels on Instagram: "What happened with Ilia Malinin last night? I tell you why you shouldn’t be too alarmed. #figureskating #olympics #milanocortina2026 #iliamalinin #yumakagiyama"

17 likes, 3 comments - newsbysamuels on February 8, 2026: "What happened with Ilia Malinin last night? I tell you why you shouldn’t be too alarmed. #figureskating #olympics #milanocortina2026 #iliamalinin #yumakagiyama".

www.instagram.com

ETA:

Robert Samuels is that rarity, a serious journalist who adores figure skating and writes about it when he can.