misskarne
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I'm glad Ilia is going to Worlds. I hope Jason does too, so that our last memory of him can be something good.
U.S. Men 2025-26 Discussion - Quad God and the Mere Mortals
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BittyBug
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Re Ilia - I posted this in his fan thread as well (gifted NYT / Athletic link):
www.nytimes.com
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
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
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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.
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
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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.
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
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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.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".)
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.
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.
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
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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.
Some excerpts (about his words):
ETA: I found that the MSN link posted up-thread contains the same content. But I will leave it here as is.
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.Some excerpts (about his words):
ETA: I found that the MSN link posted up-thread contains the same content. But I will leave it here as is.
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Karen-W
Let the fan wars of the Olympic season begin!
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Cross-posting this -
Interesting little IG reel about the level of interest during these Olympics. The Top 10 most searched athletes on Google include four figure skaters.
9 - Madison Chock
5 - Amber Glenn
3 - Ilia Malinin
2 - Alysa Liu
NBCU Advertising & Partnerships on Instagram: "The numbers behind the athletes, sports, and moments from Milan Cortina Olympics. Data from @nbcutogether and @google Viewership Source: Nielsen, Adobe Analytics, NBCU Internal Data"
8,526 likes, 57 comments - nbcutogether on February 23, 2026: "The numbers behind the athletes, sports, and moments from Milan Cortina Olympics. Data from @nbcutogether and @google Viewership Source: Nielsen, Adobe Analytics, NBCU Internal Data".www.instagram.com
I think Ilia's openness and honesty, plus his generosity toward Mikhail Shaidorov immediately in the aftermath of his disastrous skate, have quite possibly done more for his reputation (and popularity?) than even winning an OGM would have done. His heart shone brightest during one of the darkest moments of his career.
Yup. It gives "good person" vibes. Meanwhile, Pluschenko's fury at losing to Sandhu at a GP final didn't help my impression of Pluschenko at all.
DreamSkates
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I remember reading (at this point I don't remember the source) that Nathan's mother advised him what to skate in his short program while RAF said only do what you practiced. After that, the mother was not with Nathan at competitions including his second Olympics.
Nathan very tactfully discusses his mother in his book. She had no background in figure skating but was intensely involved with his skating and very controlling. Reading his book, I thought that there was no way that I would have wanted any child to have his childhood even if they were guaranteed Olympic gold.
Once he was an adult, things changed. At one point, his sister basically mediated between them. I don't think his mother would have been allowed at his second Olympics because of COVID. I don't get the impression that he would have insisted that she not be there, but she definitely would not have been making skating decisions or even advising him.
But, I think Nathan's challenges at the first Olympics went beyond what happened with his mother. Nathan discusses how much the other pressure and expectations took a toll on him, including sponsors and media. He started working with a sports psychologist after that and was much better prepared mentally for the next Olympics.
Raf knows this, and so I can see why he would think that the adults failed Ilia if they did not prepare him for the tremendous pressure and expectations that would be on him in Milan or if they did not very strongly advise him about what a smart schedule would be (including not only the TE but media and shooting commericals in Milan) and what the jump layouts should be.
Tesla
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I wonder if everyone believed Ilia could handle the pressure because of his age and how steady he has been on the world stage. I think they forgot how different Olympic pressure really is, especially when you're the overwhelming favorite.
I think Ilia actually wasn't entirely wrong about how not being allowed to compete in the last Olympics probably cost him a medal in Milan (even though, in retrospect, he undoubtedly regrets saying it in front of a live mic). He had no context for just how different it would be.
Maybe. There are certainly plentiful examples of other skaters that made the podium in their first Olympic experience. Kwan tightened up but definitely did better in her first Olympics than in her second. Yagudin and Pluschenko both did fabulously at their first Olympics, and both were very strong jumpers of their time. OTOH, Browning won four world championships and yet never managed to medal at any of the three Olympics where he competed despite being such an outstanding jumper and overall skater. (I'm still sad about that.)
Mind games are tough, apparently unless you're Alysa.
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Alysa should sit for a brain scan in the interests of science. Like a lot of you, I’ve been watching skating seriously for more than 30 years and I’ve never seen as nerveless a performer. Med in her heyday was good, so was Yuna, but eventually nerves got to them too. Hope Alysa stays the unicorn she is.
Sylvia
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I meant to post this the other day ... Worlds entries were published online:
Jason BROWN
Ilia MALININ
Andrew TORGASHEV
Alternates 1-4:
Maxim NAUMOV
Tomoki HIWATASHI
Jacob SANCHEZ
Liam KAPEIKIS (added)
Junior Worlds Men will compete next week in Tallinn on Wednesday & Friday, March 4 & 6:
Lucius KAZANECKI
Jacob SANCHEZ
Alternates 1-3:
Patrick BLACKWELL
Caleb FARRINGTON
Lorenzo ELANO
Jason BROWN
Ilia MALININ
Andrew TORGASHEV
Alternates 1-4:
Maxim NAUMOV
Tomoki HIWATASHI
Jacob SANCHEZ
Liam KAPEIKIS (added)
Junior Worlds Men will compete next week in Tallinn on Wednesday & Friday, March 4 & 6:
Lucius KAZANECKI
Jacob SANCHEZ
Alternates 1-3:
Patrick BLACKWELL
Caleb FARRINGTON
Lorenzo ELANO
Tesla
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Alysa is a unicorn because she doesn't care about a medal. Gold or no gold, medal or no medal, she would be just as happy either way.
It wouldn't have been the same. Ilia would not have been in the TE. He also would not have had the media and sponsor responsibilities. More importantly, he would not have had the expectations and pressure. Ilia was promoted as the most likely American gold medalist and was one of the biggest faces of the Olympics in the U.S.. In contrast, he finished ninth at Worlds four years ago and it was no big deal. Nathan was the one with the expectations last time.
Ilia also wasn't doing all the quads then that he has been doing recently. There would not have been any decision about whether he should include a quad axel or seven quads.
I doubt it. Ilia had been posting messages about mental health before he got to the Olympics. Also, I really, really doubt Raf forgot about Olympic pressure or that USFS did. USFS reportedly provided sports psychologists in Italy that were available to the skaters. I think it would merely be speculation to guess why Ilia didn't use one.
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Psychologists have their limitations. It’s like when I read that so-and-so needs media training. Likely, that training will prevent a really egregious mistake for the average spokesperson or politician. But put that someone in a real gotcha interview and all the training in the world might not prevent a debacle.
kwanfan1818
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Both, though, had different types of pressure: Medvedeva, in a rink where she saw how disposable skaters were, even having had more longevity, was injured the Fall before — like Chan — and that plus the time bomb that was Zagitova, did her head in. Kim was ambivalent, and that can be fatal at that level.
I don’t think being in Beijing would have been the same as being in Milan, and he probably didn’t mean this when he spoke in Kiss and Cry, but he never had an Olympics in which there was no pressure outside himself and his team. He will never have a chance to be the young guy who could be the first or last FS group, not yet consistent but so much potential, and not in the TE unless someone tested positive for COVID. The social aspects would have been muted for that specific Olympics, but he wouldn’t have been expected to carry the US team gold on his shoulders and turn around to be the first to land 4A at the Olympics and, potentially win the first of three individual OGMs. He’ll never again have the chance to be the newbie, making friends around the village. It’s business going forward.
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gkelly
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Yagudin placed 5th at his first Olympics in 1998. Not bad, but not his best effort -- it was the flu more than nerves that got to him.
Vagabond
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I suspect that the scan would find her to have a very normal brain, only adding to the mystery of how she does what she does.
