Ilia Malinin leaned his head back and wagged his tongue. This perhaps wasn’t the start to his Olympic career that he wanted.
The 21-year-old took it easy in the short program of the team figure skating competition Saturday, leaving his signature quad axel out. Even with a watered-down routine, the man known as the “Quad God” looked shockingly mortal. He finished second in the short program after struggling on multiple jumps, trailing Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama’s electrifying performance by almost 10 points.
Despite Malinin’s performance, the United States still enters the final day of the team competition in first place. Madison Chock and Evan Bates dazzled in the free dance with a score of 133.23 points that earned first place. The reigning world champions swept both dance programs in the team event, helping pace the U.S. to a 44-point team total.
The United States leads second-place Japan (39 points) and third-place Italy (37 points) going into Sunday’s medal event, which will feature men’s, women’s, and pairs free programs. However, the U.S. team has not yet named the skaters who will perform in Sunday’s long programs.
Malinin, who earned nine points for his second-place finish in the short program, entered his first Olympic Games as the overwhelming favorite to win individual gold. With unmatched technical skill, it will likely take multiple mistakes from Malinin and perfect performances from his competitors for him not to claim the United States’ second consecutive men’s singles gold medal.
But to become just the second skater to win two gold medals in the same Games, Malinin’s performance fell short of those lofty expectations.
Malinin had planned to open with his quad axel in combination with a triple toeloop but settled only for a quad flip. He received a negative grade of execution on his triple axel and underrotated a quad lutz that he connected to the triple toeloop.
Malinin said he is simply managing his energy to prepare for the individual event, which begins on Tuesday—only two days after the final day of the team competition.
Kagiyama highlighted Japan’s performances Saturday, pumping both fists in the air after his program. As the crowd showered him with applause, he spread his arms wide and threw his head back. When he saw his Japanese teammates cheering from the sideline, he jumped in the air in excitement. He stood up in shock when his score of 108.67 flashed across the screen.
While Malinin is undefeated in individual events since November 2023, he has occasionally had to stage comeback wins. He was third after the short program in the Grand Prix Final in December—the last major international competition before the Olympics—but answered in the free skate by becoming the first person to land seven clean quad jumps in a single program.
With Malinin’s second-place finish, the United States held a slim one-point lead for the gold medal entering Sunday’s long programs.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/story/2026-02-07/quad-god-ilia-malinin-conserves-energy-u-s-leads-team-skate