Ilia Malinin is the U.S. figure skating phenom destroying everyone in his path

It’s understandable if you don’t follow figure skating on a yearly basis, tuning in only when the Winter Olympics roll around — but this is your chance to educate yourself, because when the games hit Milano-Cortina next year you’re going to be hearing one name a lot: Ilia Malinin.

Malinin is the 20-year-old figure skating phenom who is dominating the competition to such a profound level that it would be a shocker if he doesn’t take home gold next year. Among his laundry list of accomplishments was a win at the 2025 Grand Prix de France in which Malinin beat the competition by a staggering 40 points, winning both the Short Program and Free Skate so effortlessly that he made his competition look like junior skaters.

The son of Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, two Russian-born skaters who competed for Uzbekistan at the Winter Olympics, Malinin was born in Virginia in 2004 after his parents emigrated to the United States. Malinin, whose nickname is “Quad God,” has been utterly unbeatable since 2023 — and was challenging at the highest level since his senior level debut in 2021-22. The Virginia-native has amassed one of the most incredible skating resumes in a very short period of time, winning two World Championships, two Grand Prix, and three United States Championships. Malinin is also the first figure skater to ever complete a quadruple axel, which is now a regular part of his routine. In addition he has invented his own choreography moves that nobody else is capable of, such as the “Raspberry Twist,” which is an ode to his last name, which means raspberry in Russian.

It’s not simply the performances or the body of work, but the style with which Malinin brings to the ice. It’s almost as if someone created a perfect figure skater in a lab. He blends the grace and artistry characteristic of Eastern European skaters, with the technical precision typically ascribed to Asian skaters, and mixes that with the attitude and musicality which is a staple of U.S. skating.

The lead up to the games is underway, and the Men’s Figure Skating title is going to be a battle to watch. The only real competition for Malinin is France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, who bested him early in his senior career at the World Championships. However, since that point Malinin has come out on top of every meeting of the two, including this past weekend in Paris where he won by 40 points.

It’s been years since someone took the sports by storm like this, and he’s ours.