Ilia Malinin Bounces Back From Olympic Nightmare To Win Third Straight World Figure Skating Title

PRAGUE — Ilia Malinin is backmost connected nan apical measurement of nan podium.

Six weeks aft a disastrous skate knocked nan Olympic gold-medal favourite disconnected nan podium, nan “quad god” reeled disconnected 1 immense jump aft another, and a backflip for bully measure, to clasp his world title title for nan 3rd twelvemonth running.

Malinin shouted and punched nan aerial pinch alleviation aft finishing a skate that showed he had achieved his desire to “move on” from nan Olympics aft days tormented by his mistakes.

He praised nan crowd’s support, saying: “It was really challenging, really difficult but pinch you guys I was capable to make it through.” His aim, he added, had simply been to get done nan free skate “in 1 piece.”

Skating past aft starring nan short program, conscionable arsenic he did successful Milan, Malinin landed 5 high-scoring quadruple jumps but not his pioneering quad axel, a jump he didn’t effort astatine nan Olympics.

Malinin scored 218.11 successful nan free skate for a full 329.40, acold up of metallic medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan connected 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was 3rd connected 288.54.

Ilia Malinin performs a backflip during his free skate astatine nan World Figure Skating Championships connected Saturday successful Prague.

(Petr David Josek / Associated Press)

Kagiyama hit his personal-best free skate people but still had to make do pinch a 4th profession world title metallic successful a profession which includes 4 Olympic silvers and 5 full worlds medals, but nary golden from either event. He still embraced Malinin aft his skate and they jumped together successful celebration.

In a showcase of top-level skating, location was nary podium spot for France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, who had been successful 2nd aft nan short programme but dropped to 5th wide aft a fall. Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko besides fell dropped from 3rd to sixth.

Malinin had nary rematch pinch Mikhail Shaidorov, nan skater from Kazakhstan who won nan Olympic gold, because he opted against competing again this season.

That’s comparatively communal successful fig skating for golden badge winners who look a unreserved of media and commercialized opportunities aft a grueling four-year Olympic buildup.

Malinin becomes nan first skater to triumph 3 consecutive men’s world titles since chap American Nathan Chen, who achieved nan feat successful 2018, 2019 and 2021 aft nan 2020 arena was canceled because of nan COVID-19 pandemic.

The past title of nan championships is nan free creation information of nan crystal creation arena later Saturday. France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron are successful nan lead aft Friday’s hit dance.