Ilia Malinin viewed as U.S. favorite for 2026 Olympic figure skating gold

People reports 21-year-old Ilia Malinin is widely regarded as America’s best shot at Olympic gold in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy in February. Nicknamed the “Quad God” for landing the quad axel — which he first landed at 17 in 2022 at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in Lake Placid — Malinin has also executed an unprecedented seven quadruple jumps in a single program and set a record for the number of quads in a recent competition in Japan.

He has won four consecutive U.S. national championships and dominated the last two world championships, including a world title in March 2024 in Montreal. Skating is a family affair: his parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, are two-time Olympians who coach him, his grandfather is a coach in Russia, and his 11-year-old sister Elli is a nationally ranked junior skater.

He first skated at 6 and landed his first quad at 13. Leading up to the Games, Malinin balances online classes at George Mason University with a six-hour, six-days-a-week training schedule and says he will focus on fine-tuning his programs and staying healthy.

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Sports, Ilia Malinin, Quad Axel, Tatiana Malinina, Roman Skorniakov, Lake Placid