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

[misskarne]

I'm glad Ilia is going to Worlds. I hope Jason does too, so that our last memory of him can be something good.

 

[BittyBug]

Re Ilia - I posted this in his fan thread as well (gifted NYT / Athletic link):

Ilia Malinin learning that the greats need to endure heartbreak

For Malinin, the path forward is clear. He is yearning to get back onto the ice.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Jonas]

It could be any number of things. It could be the layout. It could be TE decisions. It could be all the hype and expectations that Ilia and members of his team helped amp up. It could be the media and endorsement stuff he did while he was in Milan. Who knows what else? It would just be speculation. His parents are Olympians and Raf has experience with Nathan having a devastating Olympics. So, if they didn't do much to help protect Ilia from making mistakes, then kudos to Raf for admitting it and talking to Ilia about it.

I agree w/everything you said wholeheartedly, but THIS part in bold caught my eye for some reason. Back in Pyeongchang wasn't there some sort of quibble between Nathan and Raf re: how to go about the SP?? IIRC, Nathan went for the 4Lutz combo against Raf's advice and got stuck in 15th and out of medal contention. Of course, Nathan was glorious in the FS (he won it, right??), so maybe this all got buried quickly, but I don't remember Raf making any sort of public statements seemingly defending 18-year old Nathan. It was kinda just an, "it is what it is" kinda thing with how it all played out. Fast forward two Olympic cycles, Raf seems to go up to bat for 21-year old Ilia -- and he doesn't even coach him full-time. Granted Nathan wasn't as overwhelming a favorite to win in Pyeongchang as Ilia was here in Milan, but still an interesting comparative observation to me. Maybe it is Raf learning from his experience coaching an Olympic gold medal favorite.

Your thoughts...

 

[BittyBug]

Time tends to either harden or soften us. In Raf’s case, it appears to be the latter. Also, being more of an advisor than a full-time coach might give Raf a different perspective.

 

[panda42]

Raf may also be trying to change his image of being stern and critical. Andrew said that Raf ignored him in the weeks leading up to Nats and even kicked him out of the rink once. Raf did come sit next to him in Milan and show his support, even if his demeanor is still rough and involved bellowing and hitting him in the shoulder! He yelled at Ilia right after he skated at Worlds last year, which also seemed a little much.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Nathan Chen went against Arutunian's advice and listened to his mother for the SP. He was Chen's main coach.

I don't think he equates Malinin’s parents who were Malinin’s coaches, with Chen’s mother’s influence over Chen or even Kelly Rippon’s influence over her son.

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

Sorry to digress, but ...



"QuadGod" is the spelling on Ilia's official merch, so at this point, he apparently is fine with using the letter "o" -- as well as the original numeral "0".

QuadGod by Ilia Malinin Official Merch Store

Shop the official QuadGod merchandise by Olympic Champion Ilia Malinin. Tees, hoodies, beanies, accessories, and more.

shop.iliamalininqg.com

(As a fan of Ilia since 2019 JGP, I do remember well when he changed his Instagram account after 2020 Skate America, from "lutzboi" to "quadg0d".)

What I meant was that is how he spells it on his Instagram handle. I can see why he's fine with it the other way, especially when even the mass media is spelling it with the letter O.

 

[Katha]

I think with Arutunian there's always this hilarious mix of old Soviet battle axe and a pretty rare self-awarenss for a coach IMO. Like, taking on skaters that were seen as "hopeless" and "old" and getting their careers back on track. The notion that skaters shouldn't be discarded once they're not perceived as useful anymore, that there's a person and a life beyond just the sport aspects. Which is honestly pretty extraordinary not only in the Russian style of coaching tbh still, sadly. OTOH, he's hyper-competitive and has coached many champions, so of course he pushes and wants everyone to do their best. Sometimes perhaps too much.

Raf is also depressingly one of the few coaches who seems aware of power dynamics in skating, explicitly talks about them and understands his responsibilities in that regard. Like, he brings up how he mishandled Mao again and again, I think that is one of the great regrets of his career. That he didn't push to find out what was happening when she stayed in Japan and just assumed she was playing games with him. Then it came out her mother was sick. There's the clear awareness yeah, I was the adult and she was a kid in an overwhelming situation, I should have extended grace and figured out what was going on. They're good now so presumably he apologized for it all, but I do think he looks more in the mirror than some other coaches.

Not that he doesn't make mistakes, but that the willingness to critically assess how he might have made wrong decisions is always there. I see that interview in that same vein and also perhaps an effort to get away from a pile on and blame towards Malinin. Stressing that there was a whole team that perhaps didn't manage everything going up to the Olys correctly.

 

[Allskate]

Here's another interview with Ilia. It sounds like he didn't have a sports psychologist leading into the Olympics. Nathan worked with one after his first Olympics. Perhaps Ilia would benefit from that as well.

MSN

 

[Jammers]

Here's another interview with Ilia. It sounds like he didn't have a sports psychologist leading into the Olympics. Nathan worked with one after his first Olympics. Perhaps Ilia would benefit from that as well.

MSN

Better yet just hang around Alysa a lot more. Maybe that i don't give a F*&k attitude will rub off on him. But i'm not sure there is anyone with that kind of mindset at least those who are championship contenders.

 

[YukiNieve]

Robert Samuel of the Washington Post always writes in-depth articles about figure skating. I think he is a fan of figure skating.

This interview with Ilia took place a few days after the disastrous FS, and allowed him to elaborate on his thoughts.

Ilia Malinin says person who came to Olympics a few weeks ago is ‘dust’​

Gone is the shy 21-year-old who talked effusively about figure skating, replaced by a young man whose words come in measured and concrete thoughts about a larger purpose.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2026/02/19/ilia-malinin-olympic-disappointment/

Some excerpts (about his words):

“The person who came [to the Olympics], he’s been turned into dust,” Malinin said Wednesday night. “I came out a different person [with] a different perspective, different mindset.”

“I honestly felt like I’ve aged a lot through these Olympics,” Malinin said.

Malinin said that over the past few days he’s wished he could go back and do the skate again without the dark thoughts and doubts that spilled into his head as he skated onto the ice that night.
“But in the end, life’s unfair,” he said. “It’s not going to give you all everything you want, sometimes you’re going to have to earn it so that’s something I always keep in my mind now and really just want to use as fuel for the future.”

Malinin also said the approach he wants to take will be to eliminate “unnecessary pressure, stress and emotions.”
“I believe that if you keep a positive mind, there’s more likely for you to have positive things happen, as opposed to looking at it from a negative perspective, because when you’re really negative, and you think that way, your mind’s going to find any reason to get something negative or find any negative thing that’s going to stand out, because that’s what it’s searching for,” he said.

He was asked if he sometimes wishes he could go back and change Friday’s result.
“Everything happens for a reason. I always think that way,” he said. “God made it the way it should be.”

Friday had been a warm and clear day with temperatures approaching 70 degrees, but later that night the weather turned. Malinin has been told that the moment he started his program, the skies outside the Milano Ice Skating Arena opened.

“I think that means it’s a very special message,” he said.
His voice choked and for a second he sat silent.

ETA: I found that the MSN link posted up-thread contains the same content. But I will leave it here as is.