SAN JOSE, Calif. – As the cameras flashed in front of the medal-winners in US men’s figure skating, one photographer had a request: “Ilia, for one, look happy.”
At that, Ilia Malinin chuckled and obliged with a grin, then quickly returned to the close-lipped smile he’d been wearing since he was crowned a national champion on the final day of the US Figure Skating Championships.
Though his free skate was not without flaws, Malinin landed three quadruple jumps for a 177.38, a total score of 287.74 and his first US men’s title.
Malinin retained his 10-point lead over second-place finisher Jason Brown, while Andrew Torgashev topped a strong weekend with a bronze medal and recorded the highest segment score of the event with 177.78.
Malinin did doubles instead of two planned quads midway through his programme, then recovered with a triple lutz-triple axel-triple toe loop sequence that earned him more than 21 points for his final jumping pass.
He also fell on his signature quad axel; Malinin is the only skater in history to cleanly land the 4 1/2-revolution jump in competition.
“This wasn´t the skate that I wanted,” Malinin said. “There´s always ups and downs, and you just have to get over it and move on for the next thing.”
Malinin said he came into the event with less energy than usual, having spent the bulk of his time leading into nationals refining his short programme. That effort paid off, but he believes it cost him in the free skate.
“I think I was a little bit sluggish back there,” he said, “and I just wasn´t very prepared for what was about to happen.”
Brown’s 177.06 in the free skate gave him the silver medal. The 28-year-old veteran, who performed a routine to Josh Groban’s “The Impossible Dream,” had not competed since finishing sixth at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Discussion about this post