UPDATED And The Quad Axel Pursuit ENDS: Malinin!

[Sylvia]

Cross-posting from Malinin's fan thread:

Ilia made TIME magazine's TIME100 Next list!

2022 TIME100 Next: Ilia Malinin

Find out why Ilia Malinin is on this year’s TIME100 Next list

time.com

His quotes in the piece by Alice Park:

“I’ve always wanted to do it,” he says. “The mental side plays a huge role, because you have to fully commit to the takeoff—that’s the only way you will be able to rotate it fully.”
...
“Now that I’ve officially done [the quad Axel], I’m a lot more confident in trying new things.”

Interesting that Ilia was included in the ARTISTS, and not the PHENOMS, category: https://time.com/collection/time100-next-2022/

He will be featured on WUSA channel 9 news in the Washington, D.C. area later today (3A clip below):

https://twitter.com/x/status/1575217049819049984

ETA that the Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools website even published a quote from his high school principal on Sept. 16: https://www.fcps.edu/blog/marshall-senior-lands-first-quad-axel
“We are so very proud of Ilia! This is an incredible accomplishment,” says Jeffrey Litz, principal of Marshall. “It is amazing to me how Ilia can perform at such a high level while also balancing his schoolwork and social life. He is an incredible young man.”

 

[Sylvia]

Nick Zaccardi spoke to Vern Taylor, Brian Orser, Kurt Browning, Jozef Sabovcik and Surya Bonaly for this article (Oct. 4):

Ilia Malinin's quadruple Axel sheds light on first figure skater to land triple Axel

Ilia Malinin landed the first quadruple Axel in figure skating, 43 years after Canadian Vern Taylor landed the first triple Axel.

olympics.nbcsports.com

 

[screech]

Nick Zaccardi spoke to Vern Taylor, Brian Orser, Kurt Browning, Jozef Sabovcik and Surya Bonaly for this article (Oct. 4):

Ilia Malinin's quadruple Axel sheds light on first figure skater to land triple Axel

Ilia Malinin landed the first quadruple Axel in figure skating, 43 years after Canadian Vern Taylor landed the first triple Axel.

olympics.nbcsports.com

Good article.

I really appreciate that the article included links to almost everything they mentioned. And nice to hear from the 'forgotten' ones - Vern Taylor and Jozef Sabovcik.
Also, I had no idea that quad axels were something Kurt was even thinking of, let alone briefly attempting in practice back in the 90s...

 

[livetoskate]

Nick Zaccardi spoke to Vern Taylor, Brian Orser, Kurt Browning, Jozef Sabovcik and Surya Bonaly for this article (Oct. 4):

Ilia Malinin's quadruple Axel sheds light on first figure skater to land triple Axel

Ilia Malinin landed the first quadruple Axel in figure skating, 43 years after Canadian Vern Taylor landed the first triple Axel.

olympics.nbcsports.com

Wonderful, in-depth article. I'm glad Vern Taylor us being remembered and appreciated. Gracious that Kurt acknowledged Josef's quad toe too.

 

[Sylvia]

I debated whether or not to make a new GSD thread about Ilia's disastrous individual event free skate at the Milan Olympics on Feb. 13 but couldn't decide how to title it. So I'm bumping up this old one from 2022 to share this article (Feb. 15, 2026):

Inside NBC's production of Ilia Malinin's stunning Olympics collapse

NBC producers Alexa Pritting and Matt Marvin detail how they covered Ilia Malinin's stunning collapse at the Milano Olympics.

awfulannouncing.com

Excerpt from the end:

When asked where Friday night’s broadcast ranked among the biggest or most significant events they’ve each produced in their careers, both Pritting and Marvin placed it near the very top. Pritting said this particular collapse was uniquely difficult to process because Malinin had been so remarkably consistent for so many years, and he was so far technically above the rest of the competition.
Marvin echoed that. In terms of drama and unexpected outcomes, this ranked at or near the top of anything he’d been part of.
Looking back on the production choices made during the broadcast, Marvin said there’s one decision he’s still thinking about. After Malinin’s first quad axel attempt turned into a single, which was the first real sign that something might be off, Marvin wondered whether he should have immediately shown a replay of that jump to give the announcers a chance to analyze what went wrong and start building the narrative that Malinin might be struggling. The problem is there’s always a tradeoff with those decisions — if you go to a replay, you might miss capturing the live moment and the raw emotion in the kiss and cry when Malinin gets his scores.
“But there’s a flip side,” Marvin said. “Maybe then you don’t catch as much of the live moment in the kiss and cry.” It’s the eternal production dilemma. “You can go back and forth on those decisions forever without getting a good answer.”
“That’s the best part about live TV — you have your format or plan, but you have to react to the live event and not let your plan get in the way,” Pritting added. “No matter what you plan, they have to get on the ice and skate. That’s the testament of a great producer — that you can flex.”

 

[Sylvia]

Also bringing over from both Ilia's fan & U.S. Men's news threads:

Google translation of the original RT.com Russian article with Rafael Arutyunyan's comments:

"All of us who were on Malinin's team now need to stop accepting condolences and openly acknowledge the mistakes that were made. Ilia is not to blame for anything, and I've already told him so. We, the adults, are to blame for failing to protect a rather young man from making the wrong moves.

"For various reasons, I don't feel it's possible to comment further on this topic, although Ilia and I discussed many important things in our personal conversations. I hope this will help him continue to live in sport and enjoy what he does," he told RT.

It was previously reported that Ilia Malinin will take part in exhibition performances at the Olympics [Feb. 21 gala].

 

[Sylvia]

Many thanks to @mattiecat13 for gifting a link yesterday to this (IMO) well-written article by Marcus Thompson II, a lead columnist at NYT’s The Athletic (Feb. 13, updated on 2/14):
Ilia Malinin squanders his prime Olympic hope: ‘I just felt like I had no control’

 

[Sylvia]

Ilia and Simone Biles were on the Today Show’s set in Milan (will post the link to his interview when it’s up):

TODAY | Simone and Ilia run into each other on the Today Show. 🫶✨🐐 | Instagram

1,221 likes, 12 comments - todayshow on February 17, 2026: "Simone and Ilia run into each other on the Today Show. 🫶✨🐐".

www.instagram.com

TODAY | Simone and Ilia want to teach each other a thing or two. 🙂‍↕️ #Olympics | Instagram

260 likes, 4 comments - todayshow on February 17, 2026: "Simone and Ilia want to teach each other a thing or two. 🙂‍↕️ #Olympics".

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

“The Quad God” Ilia Malinin joins TODAY and reflects on his devastating finish in the men’s individual free skate at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that shocked the figure skating world. "It's just a lot on you, so many eyes, so much attention...it really can get to you. I was not ready to handle that," he says. He also opens up about the moment he embraced the gold medal winner, Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov, and celebrates how men’s figure skating is back on the map.

Ilia's TODAY Show interview video (Feb. 17): https://www.today.com/video/olympia...his-mistakes-in-men-s-free-skate-257785413521

ETA - thank you to @BittyBug for gifting this link to The Athletic's Marcus Thompson II's follow-up to his article linked in post #127 above):

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