After crashing out at the Olympics, Ilia Malinin starts the long road back to the next Winter Games

The easy choice for Ilia Malinin would have been to take some time off.

Off the ice. Out of the skates. Away from the public eye.

The best figure skater of his generation had been heavily favored to win Olympic gold when he stepped onto the ice for his free skate in February. Malinin had led after a short program — mediocre by his lofty expectations, but sublime by those of just about everyone else. Those packed inside the arena in Milan, Italy, that night were prepared less for a competition and more for a coronation.

What followed was four minutes of shocking disappointment .

Malinin doubled up a quad loop, fell on a quad lutz, and made a complete mess of his final jumping pass. He plummeted all the way off the podium, forcing him to watch one of his good friends, Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, win the gold medal instead .

“That day,” Malinin said, “will forever be the worst day of my life.”

So, yes, the easy choice would have been to step away from the spotlight, like most figure skaters do after the grueling mental and physical demands of an Olympic cycle. Malinin could have loaded up on classes at George Mason, where he's been working toward a degree, and forgotten all about lutzes and axels and loops for a while.

Instead, Malinin decided to defend his world title in March , winning his third in a row in spectacular fashion. Then, rather than take this season off, he went to work on new programs that he'll unveil at Skate America this weekend in Everett, Washington.

“Even if I won the Olympics, I would have wanted to go to the world championships, because I love the sport so much,” Malinin told The Associated Press. “That also leads into why I wanted to skate this season. I just love the sport of figure skating so much.

“There's a long four years ahead,” he said, "and I'll be able to take this season as more of a rollercoaster to enjoy the actual skating side, instead of being focused on placements and competitions, something I was not able to stay in touch with the last two years.”

Malinin, the 21-year-old son of former Olympic skaters Roman Skorniakov and Tatiana Malinina, had been tabbed for stardom since the moment he stepped on the ice. He finished second at nationals in 2022, when Malinin was controversially left off the U.S. team for the Beijing Games, and he proceeded to win the last four championships without anyone coming close.

The self-styled “Quad God” became the first skater to land a quad axel — a 4 1/2-rotation jump — in competition. He set records that may never be matched. His triumphs at back-to-back worlds leading into the Milan Games only made the target on him bigger.

Later, Malinin acknowledge that the pressure of the Olympics got to him.

“I think the majority of people were expecting me to be the Olympic champion,” he said. “I always tell myself that everything happens for a reason, and you don't know what to expect until the moment happens, and everything that has happened since has changed my mindset and changed my perspective, and made me into a whole different person.”

Malinin did walk away from Milan with a gold medal. He was instrumental in the U.S. defending its title in the team event.

As for the individual competition, Malinin finished a forgettable eighth, but was lauded afterward for the way he supported not only Shaidorov but everyone who stood on the podium. He later was given the Fair Play Award for his grace in defeat.

“Sports are more than just winning or losing. It really showed the sportsmanship in our sport,” Malinin said. “One of the reasons our sport is so special is how appreciative we are of each other, and how we're able to support each other, no matter what.”

Malinin will start his season Friday night with the men's short program at Skate America, the first of two Grand Prix assignments and an event he has won three times in the past. It's the first step on a long, four-year trek toward the next Winter Games in France.

It also is certain to be an emotional moment for those watching.

Malinin's program is called “In Remembrance of Those Never Forgotten," and pays tribute to those in the tight-knit skating community who were killed in January 2025, when American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C.

Several of those aboard belonged to the Washington Figure Skating Club, where Malinin often trains in northern Virginia.

The free skate at Skate America is Friday night, when Malinin will perform to music from the animated series “Blue Eye Samurai.”

“I've definitely surprised myself with the programs this year. They're definitely a step up not only technically but artistically,” he said. “They're a step into a much bigger evolution of my skating. I know I would not have been able to pull off any of these programs if I did them a few years ago. These are definitely some of the most difficult programs I've done.”

Malinin has always been about challenging himself, though. It's one of the reasons he returned to the ice so quickly after his Olympic heartbreak, and why he was so excited to begin another Olympic cycle on Friday night.

“The Olympic season is where you try to narrow everything down and practice what you're most comfortable with, and you have to do it by the book. The new season is about experimenting,” Malinin explained. “The way I approached this season is trying to have the hardest programs in the world. Try to improve myself, whether I'm making different transitions in artistry or choreography. Everything has risen to another level.”

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