By Lori Ewing
(Reuters) – U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin plans to gauge his potential risk versus reward before deciding whether to attempt an entire ambitious programme of seven quadruple jumps at the world championships this week.
The 20-year-old who is known for his stunning athleticism is a huge favourite to capture a second straight men’s singles title at the worlds which begin on Wednesday in Boston – the sport’s largest event ahead of the 2026 Milan Olympics.
The self-proclaimed “Quad God” landed six of his seven attempted quadruple jumps, including the quad Axel — a jump only Malinin has landed in competition — in winning his third U.S. senior title in January, falling just short of his goal of becoming the first skater to land seven quads in a free program.
“I’ll have to see when I get to Boston and specifically, I think I’ll have to see how the ice condition is,” Malinin told reporters during a recent conference call.
“When I get to the program, we’ll just have to see how I’ll be feeling in that moment and if it would be worth it to go for that risk or to maybe play it safe.”
Malinin, whose coaches are his Russian-born parents Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov who both skated for Uzbekistan at the Olympics, has lost once in his last 10 competitions over two seasons but acknowledged the pressure of competing with a target on his back in a pre-Olympic year could be intense, particularly at home.
“I know that in a few days I might start to feel that pressure,” said Malinin, who has a poster from last year’s world championships in Montreal on his wall as motivation.
“Being at home and, you know, a huge crowd behind me and being the reigning world champion, it’s going to be a lot of pressure to handle. But I’m really looking forward to giving it my all and really just trying to handle that pressure.”
CLOSEST CHALLENGER
Japan’s twice Olympic silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama should be Malinin’s closest challenger, and believes he is gaining ground on the American.
“After the worlds last year, I felt there was a considerable gap with Ilia and this season has been important in trying to close that gap,” Kagiyama told Olympics.com.
“I know the fans think I might not be able to catch him but I am out to rewrite history one day.”
Japan’s Mao Shimada and American Amber Glenn are the favourites in the women’s singles.
Germany’s Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin are the top-ranked pairs team this season, while reigning champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxim Deschamps of Canada hope to bounce back from a difficult season of injuries and illness.
“Every year is like climbing a different mountain, and this year has had a lot of treacherous obstacles in our way that we were not expecting,” said Stellato-Dudek, who last year became the oldest female to win a world pairs title at age 40.
U.S. ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates will have their sights set on a third consecutive world ice dance title.
The championships determine how many spots in each discipline a country will have at the Milan Olympics.
The event will also be held against a sombre backdrop after the death of 28 members of the U.S. skating community including 11 young skaters, when their American Airlines flight collided mid-air with a U.S. Army helicopter in January.
The championships will feature a tribute to the skaters, who included several from the Skating Club of Boston, on the opening day.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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