Virginia-native Ilia Malinin bounces back from Olympic nightmare with 3rd straight world figure skating title
Virginia-native Ilia Malinin bounces back from Olympic nightmare with 3rd straight world figure skating title
The Associated Press
March 28, 2026, 8:47 PM

(1/3)
PRAGUE (AP) Fairfax, Virginia-native figure skater Ilia Malinin is back on the top step of the podium. ... Six weeks after a disastrous free skate knocked the Olympic gold-medal favorite off the podium, the quad god reeled off one huge jump after another, and a backflip for good measure, to retain his world championship title on Saturday for the third year running.
Malinin shouted and punched the air with relief after finishing a skate that showed he had achieved his desire to move on from the Olympics after days tormented by his mistakes.
He praised the crowds support, saying: It was really challenging, really hard but with you guys I was able to make it through. His aim, he added, had simply been to get through the free skate in one piece.
Skating last after leading the short program, just as he did in Milan, Malinin landed five high-scoring quadruple jumps but not his pioneering quad axel, a jump he didnt attempt at the Olympics.
{snip}