Ilia Malinin Fan Thread!

[Karen-W]

As usual I’m trying to catch up…. how?? did Nathan said he’s not going to worlds?

Ilia was assigned to Worlds at Nats - just passed over for the Olympic team in favor of Jason.

 

[Sylvia]

... Nathan said he’s not going to worlds?

No, he hasn't said yet. The world team, as named after Nationals, is Nathan, Vincent & Ilia (Jason 1st alternate).

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Ilia was assigned to Worlds at Nats - just passed over for the Olympic team in favor of Jason.

WHATTTTT???? He was?

YAYYYYY

Gosh, after all the chaos and when the Olympic team was announced I don’t think I ever went to go look to see who made the worlds team. That’s so exciting

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

OMGGGGGGG

I wonder if we could see the well rested Ilia end up as world champion… Or at least give Nathan a big run for his money

 

[livetoskate]

Who's excited about Challenge Cup and seeing how Ilia performs? The short program starts around 12:30pm EST on Friday.

 

[Karen-W]

Who's excited about Challenge Cup and seeing how Ilia performs? The short program starts around 12:30pm EST on Friday.

I am! Crossing my fingers for an error-free SP that sets him up nicely for Worlds!

 

[DreamSkates]

Who's excited about Challenge Cup and seeing how Ilia performs? The short program starts around 12:30pm EST on Friday.

Is it streamed anywhere? If not hopefully someone can put something on youtube.

 

[Sylvia]

Is it streamed anywhere?

Yes, info is posted in the Challenge Cup competition thread in Kiss & Cry: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2022-challenge-cup-feb-24-27-tillburg-ned.109439/

For those without access, I've also tweeted the info: https://twitter.com/SylviaUnseen/status/1496585051374501889

 

[livetoskate]

Sorry, it starts at 11:30am EST on Friday. Ilia will be the 2nd skater.

 

[livetoskate]

Ilia Malinin's short program:

https://youtu.be/6NUqM5vFPgk

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ No problem for Ilia today in his Challenge Cup SP!

He played it safe & landed his Junior SP jumps - 3Lz+3T, 3F, 3A - 84.55 with a TES of 46.45 (Worlds minimum is 34).

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

^^^ No problem for Ilia today in his Challenge Cup SP!

He played it safe & landed his Junior SP jumps - 3Lz+3T, 3F, 3A - 84.55 with a TES of 46.45 (Worlds minimum is 34).

YASSSSSSSS

Now go to the world championships and win!!

 

[Stephanie]

@absoluteskating interview right after the SP

https://twitter.com/absoluteskating/status/1497283854817800204?s=20&t=JhboWOLbA979zhYoY4pY0w

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Wowwww Ilia just slayed YASSSS

Where would that free skate have placed at the Olympics last week?

 

[alj5]

Wowwww Ilia just slayed YASSSS

Where would that free skate have placed at the Olympics last week?

It's hard to compare scores event to event, but 176.14 would be 10th at the Olympics (in between Semenenko & Messing).

 

[livetoskate]

There was a heartwarming moment after the medal ceremony when Sota Yamamoto helped Ilia hold up the American flag, and they posed for pictures like that. If anyone knows if Ilia will be competing this summer/fall at any local competitions, please post here. The DC area isn't too far from me, and it would be great to see him skate in person.

 

[Sylvia]

Woo-hoo, Ilia! 100.16 in SP for 4th place in his Worlds debut! He had 59.14 TES and all level 4 spins, L3 footwork. Jumps:
4Lz (11.50 BV + 4.11 GOE including one +5) = 15.61
4T+3T (13.70 BV + 2.58 GOE) = 16.28
3A (8.80 BV in 2nd half + 1.83 GOE) = 10.63

From the ISU's Quick Quotes document:

(on his performance today) I definitely felt relieved and excited that I’m here and representing Team USA. I definitely delivered it today and I hope to deliver it on Saturday for the long.
(on his parents coaching him) My mom gets nervous a lot so she didn’t really want to come (so as) not to get too nervous. But she’ll definitely be happy with this skate when I see her at the hotel. I get to choose who goes (with me) - usually it’s my dad because he calms me a lot and I feel a lot more relaxed when he’s there.
(on his quad Lutz today) I’d say that it was better than the one I did at (2022 U.S.) Nationals because I felt I had better air time, my landing was a lot cleaner, and I had a lot more speed coming out.
(on how many quads he is planning for FS): I have four quads planned: 1 Lutz, 2 toe loops and 1 Salchow.

 

[Cachoo]

I love how he seems to embrace every challenge and that smile! His folks must be so proud.

 

[Spikefan]

I completely get why his mom doesn’t want to be there, I would be exactly the same. Selfishly I just want to see her again.

 

[Cachoo]

I can’t wait to see what is in store for him. Enjoy your summer and see you next year!

 

[Karen-W]

I can’t wait to see what is in store for him. Enjoy your summer and see you next year!

Not so fast! Still have Jr Worlds in three weeks! QuadG0d needs to earn that Jr Worlds title!

 

[Stephanie]

Short interview after the free skate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70LKchTf5Ws

He seems to have his head on straight and a clear idea of what he needs to work on. Here's hoping he can redeem himself and finish his season on a high in Tallinn!

 

[Fiero425]

I am! Crossing my fingers for an error-free SP that sets him up nicely for Worlds!

It did but didn't last! Wound up in 4th Place @ Worlds! I remember his mom being robbed at Worlds back in 1999! MK fell a couple times but put in 2nd place ahead of Malinina after the SP who skated relatively clean!

 

[Karen-W]

It did but didn't last! Wound up in 4th Place @ Worlds! I remember his mom being robbed at Worlds back in 1999! MK fell a couple times but put her in 2nd place ahead of Malinina after the SP who skated relatively clean!

Oh, come on, he's done very nicely for himself at Worlds - guaranteed two spots on the GP and he might even wind up seeded 1-6 if more than 2 of the skaters ahead of him retire (Kvitelashvili's already announced he's done, and who knows what Uno, Zhou or Tomono decide to do).

 

[Sylvia]

Congratulations to Ilia Malinin, 2022 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPION!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515446359209480198

Ilia's SP video (88.99 - 3Lz+3T, 3F & 3A, L4 spins & steps): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WZDICeQVV4

His winning FS (ISU PBs of 187.12 & 276.11 total): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEBhn_-_obk
His FS jumps: 4Lz (-0.82 was the only element with negative GOE), 4T, 3A, 4S / 4T+1Eu+3S, 3F+3T & 3Lz+3T.

From ISU's FS recap:

Performing to “Nobody Knows” by Autograft and “Golden Age” by Woodkid, Malinin reeled off a quad Lutz, quad toe, quad Salchow, triple Axel, quad toe-Euler-triple Salchow and two more triple-triple combinations as well as two level-four spins. The National silver medalist set a personal best with 187.12 points and racked up 276.11 points overall.

“I feel relieved that I finished the season really, really good and that I was able to skate a clean long. It makes me feel happy that I was able to put in the effort that I did today,“ the 17-year-old said.

“After the Junior Worlds that was held here a couple of years ago, I noticed that I needed to work a lot more on getting better jumping, and more skating quality, better spins and choreography overall.

“So the past few years we've been working on those the most and it definitely helped out in the long run,“ he explained. Malinin had finished 16th in his Junior World Championship debut in 2020 in Tallinn.

ETA link Hersh's article for NBC Sports:

Commanding the ice again after recent downfall, Ilia Malinin wins world junior gold in runaway - OlympicTalk | NBC Sports

In the women’s short, fellow American Isabeau Levito leads with a career best score at the junior world championships in Estonia.

olympics.nbcsports.com

 

[paskatefan]

Congrats, Ilia!

 

[livetoskate]

Congrats to Ilia, his parents & Raf too! I can imagine his mom jumping up and down watching from home. He looks so much like her. It was a great competition with a lot of talented competitors.

 

[Sylvia]

By Kalyn Kahler (his Junior Worlds videos are embedded):

Keep Your Eye on Ilia Malinin | Defector

Let me introduce you to quadg0d, the 17-year-old American skater also known as Ilia Malinin. Malinin just won the junior world championships with record scores in the short program (88.99), free skate (187.12), and total score (276.11). His margin of victory was 41.80 points, which is totally...

defector.com

 

[Mozart]

Did you guys see his 4a attempt ?!?!

 

[Wyliefan]

Yes! There's been some discussion of it in the U.S. Men's thread.