One year ago, Ilia Malinin came to the US Championships as, largely, a 17-year-old unknown. He finished second in Nathan Chen in 2022 and was cut from the three-man Olympic team due to inexperience, a committee decision that lit a fire in him.
After the biggest year of change in American figure skating in three decades, Malinin came to this week’s nationals in San Jose, Calif., headlining all disciplines.
If he fell on his quadruple Axel and doubled two other quads scheduled for Sunday’s free program (the most ambitious program in history), he succeeded the absent Chen as national champion.
Malinin, the second-largest male singles skater in the world, still had two clear quarters in Friday’s short program and three more on Sunday. He totaled 287.74 points and won by 10.43 over the two-time Olympian Jason Browna bridge between the Chen and Malinin eras.
“I think I just wasn’t ready to deliver that day,” Malinin, who was trying to become the second man to land six quads in a program after Chen, told NBC. “I was really so confident, I think I kind of over-thought everything and tried to get ahead of myself. But I think it’s okay.
FIGURE SKATING NATIONALS: Full Results
Brown, a 28-year-old competing for the first time since placing sixth at the Olympics, became the oldest men’s singles skater to finish in the top three at nationals since Jeremy Abbott won the last of his four titles in 2014. As usual, he did not attempt a quad but achieved the highest artistic score with 9.41 points.
Brown’s seven top-three finishes overall at nationals puts him closer to Chen, Michael Weiss, Brian Boitano, David Jenkins and dick knob for the second most men’s singles since World War II, behind only Todd Eldredge‘sand Hayes Jenkins‘ eight.
“I’m not saying it’s super old, but I can’t train like I used to,” Brown said after Friday’s short program. “What Ilia does and the way he pushes the sport is outstanding and amazing to watch. I can’t keep up.”
Andre Torgashev won bronze, winning the free skate with a quad and all jumps clear. Torgashev, who competed at the nationals for the first time since placing fifth in 2020 aged 18, will likely round out the three-man world squad.
from Japan Few of you will probably be the favorite at the world championships. He won the world title last year, when Malinin admitted cracking under the pressure in the free skate after a fourth-place finish in the short program and finished ninth.
That was before Malinin became the first person to land an Axel quad in competition. That was before Malinin became them history of the world of figure skating this fall. That was before Malinin took the American throne from Chen, who is studying at Yale and never expected to return to competition.
Malinin’s next step is to grab another label that Chen has long held: the best in the world. For that, it has to be better than it was on Sunday.
“You always learn from your experiences, and there’s always the rest of the season to come,” he said. “I just have to be ready and prepare a bit more so it doesn’t happen again.”
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