Ilia Malinin is trying jump combinations that have not ever been seen in men's skating – yet. His Instagram feed boasts videos of the 17-year-old attempting triple-quadruple jump combinations and eventually, he said, he wants to go for quad-quads.
Shockingly, those are not typos.
"A lot of people have been seeing it. I've been trying these combos with quads and all these jumps that you would never think I could do," said Malinin, who's Instagram handle is
quadg0d. "A lot of people have been asking me if I'm gonna put them in my program. Eventually, maybe, I will."
But, Malinin explained, the combos of his Instagram will likely stay in the practice rink for the time being. He said the triple-quad combos that he did essentially have the same base value today of a quad-triple, which he finds easier to execute.
The inspiration for these jumps struck seemingly from nowhere, Malinin said.
"I just felt like one day I had a bit of extra energy and I was really motivated to try something," he said of the triple Lutz-quadruple loop combination he attempted. "I just kind of went for it." He also teased he may try a quad toe-quad toe combination in the future.
Malinin first got the feel for quads while practicing in a harness with his father, who alongside his mother, make up his coaching team. While he's mostly left the harness behind, he still posts the practice videos of these jumps and enjoys the feedback he receives.
"A lot of people have been saying I've been making it look super easy," he said. "I remember a comment that I saw on YouTube about one of my programs. Someone was saying, 'It would be better if he improved his spins or his choreography.' So, I've been really trying to improve those."
He laughed when asked if the final member of his coaching triumvirate, Rafael Arutunian, was aware that he read the comments section on his social posts.
"Well, I don't really know," Malinin admitted. "I definitely know that Raf is really supportive of me. He really wants me to go somewhere in this sport. I think he's doing his best to help me."
Side note: A former Arutunian pupil, the 2018 Olympian Adam Rippon, commented on one of
Malinin's most recent videos with, "I'm laughing because this is insane!!!!!!!!!!! You are crazy."
Malinin visited Arutunian in California, where he will spend time fine-tuning his jumps and choreography, before the U.S. Championships in January. Malinin credits Arutunian for helping him learn his flip and toe loop.
At the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which function as final event before the United States nominates athletes to the 2022 U.S. Olympics Team, Malinin hopes to live up to the hype as quad god, but more importantly, skate clean and present a solid body of work.
"I'm not really trying to add more quads," he said. "I'm just trying to skate clean, so that I get a really good result and maybe, potentially get sent to the Olympics… I think that I have to try really hard to skate as best as possible in every competition that I'm having."
His body of work this season notably includes two gold medals at his Junior Grand Prix assignments and qualifying for the Junior Grand Prix Final in early December, which was ultimately canceled. He also earned the bronze medal at his senior-level Challenger Series event in Austria. And last season, he placed fifth at the 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America, his senior debut. On the national level, he was the 2019 novice bronze medalist and 2017 intermediate champion.
Malinin's parents are not putting too much pressure on him to go to the 2022 Olympics, he said, but they are "definitely" targeting the next Olympic Winter Games. They speak from experience: his parents, Tatyana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, were Olympic figure skaters for Uzbekistan in two Olympic Games apiece.
Before he and his family made the decision to represent the U.S. internationally, Malinin said they considered several options. Since his parents represented Uzbekistan, that was one option, but it would have been a very independent endeavor financially, he explained. Another option was to represent Russia, because his parents were born there, but the men's field there is currently crowded with talent.
Ultimately, the family settled on representing the U.S. because it "was a perfect fit," said the Virginia-born Malinin.
With the Olympics looming, this season has felt more charged with potential for Malinin.
"There's a difference," he said of training this year compared to other seasons. "But I think that it's most important to focus to see maybe if I can get a chance to go."
Malinin said that the possibility of being named to the World Team for the event in Montpellier, France, in March could be another big accomplishment.
But of his Olympic chances, Malinin said, "I definitely want make it this year. I just feel like I can do it."
Fans can watch the action this week in Nashville on
NBC and USA, as well as live and on-demand on
Peacock Premium. Visit the
2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Virtual Fan Experience for a behind-the-scenes look at the event.
