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Ilia Malinin positioned himself to be in the running for a gold medal following a dominant men’s figure skating short program run on Tuesday at the Winter Olympics.
Malinin, nicknamed the “Quad God,” showed his warrior spirit through his entire performance on the ice. Once he nailed the quad flip on his first jump, all bets were off from there.
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Ilia Malinin of the United States competes during the men’s figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The 21-year-old Virginia native gracefully moved up and down the ice, nailing a triple axel before coming into his change camel spin. He went up for quad Lutz triple toe loop and when he came down, he appeared to give himself a fist pump and smile knowing he hit it as perfectly as possible.
As the energy picked up in the routine, Malinin nailed a backflip – which garnered cheers in the arena. He finished the program with multiple spins.
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Ilia Malinin in the center of the rink during the men’s figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
“He is the benchmark,” NBC broadcaster Johnny Weir said as Malinin awaited his scores.
Malinin scored a 108.16. It was enough to stay ahead of Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who scored a 103.07, and France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, who scored a 102.55.
Malinin already has a gold medal in the Olympics so far as Team USA won a mixed team event last week. In that event, he took part in the free skate portion and scored a 200.03. It gave the Americans 10 points and allowed Team USA to score the gold medal.
Ilia Malinin lands a trick during the men’s figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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The men’s singles free skating event will take place on Friday.
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