“Quad god” Ilia Malinin wins third straight world figure skating title after disastrous Olympic performance

Ilia Malinin is back on the stage.

Six weeks after a a disastrous skate led in the Olympic gold medal favorite is ranked eighth MilanThe “quad god” performed back-to-back backflips, and a backflip for good measure, to retain his world championship title for the third year running.

Malinin shouted and breathed a sigh of relief after finishing the skate. He also threw his hands up after his scores were read.

Malinin praised the crowd’s support, saying: “It was a real challenge, really difficult but with you guys I managed to get through.” His goal, he added, was to get through the free skate “in one piece.”

Malinin previously told CBS News that he didn’t want to dwell on his disappointing Olympic performance.

“Everything happens for a reason,” the 21-year-old said he told CBS News in February. He said he should believe that “you learn more from failure than from success.”

Malinin is the first figure skater to win three consecutive men’s world titles since America Nathan Chenwho achieved this feat in 2018, 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Skating ended after leading the short program, as he did in Milan, Malinin scored many goals quadruple jump but not his pioneering quad axela jump he did not attempt at the Olympics.

Malinin scored 218.11 in the free skate for a total score of 329.40, far surpassing the silver medal Yuma Kagiyama of Japan at 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was third with 288.54.

Kagiyama beat her personal best in the free skate but had to settle for a fourth world championship silver in a career that includes four Olympic silvers and five world medals, but no gold in any event. He hugged Malinin from the back of his skate and they jumped together in celebration.

In an exhibition of figure skating, there was no podium for France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, who was second after the short program but dropped to fifth overall after a fall. Aleksandr Selevko of Estonia also dropped from third to sixth.

Malinin did not have a match against Mikhail Shaidorov, Kazakhstan’s Olympic gold medalist, because Shaidorov chose not to compete again this season. That’s a common decision for figure skating gold medalists, who face a rush of media and commercial opportunities behind the scenes. four years of building the Olympics.

The final competition of the competitions is the free dance portion of the ice dance event later on Saturday. France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron take the lead after Friday’s rhythmic dance.

Malinin told CBS News in February that he is looking forward to continuing to push the boundaries of his sport.

“I think I’d be much better off being known as the ‘Quad God,’ as you say, than getting a gold medal,” Malinin said..