Ilia Malinin’s Jumps Put Him on Top After Men’s Ice Skating Short Program

With the nervousness of a first-time Olympian behind him, Ilia Malinin on Tuesday delivered his best routine of the Milan-Cortina Games, bouncing back from two relatively shaky performances in the team event to finish first in the short program with an unforgettable flourish.

In his third time on Olympic ice, Malinin performed with power and confidence, landing high-flying jumps, creative aerial tricks and even a daring backflip that sent the crowd into a frenzy. He finished with 108.16 points, more than five points ahead of the second-place skater, Yuma Kagiyama of Japan. Adam Siao Him Fa of France was third, about half a point behind Kagiyama.

“I took a different approach today, really just take things nice and calm, nice and slow, just relaxed and really just push the autopilot button and let it cruise,” said Malinin, the two-time and reigning world champion, adding that he had skipped the customary warm-up before the event so he could have more time to relax.

Kagiyama, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, defeated Malinin in the short program of the team event, but didn’t deliver as snappy or as precise a routine this time around. While he opened his program with a beautiful quad toe, triple toe combination, he fumbled the landing of his triple axel and later said he was frustrated with the “small mistake.”

Malinin’s jumps, which included two quads, were better. His combination — a quad lutz, triple toe combination — was so stunning, and performed with such height and landing precision, that it received more than 22 points alone, with a very high score for execution.

Malinin said his program had not included a quad axel – skating’s hardest jump, one that only he can do – because he wanted to be totally confident about his performance and not worry about having to land it. He said he hoped that he would feel good enough to do it in his free skate, on Friday.

“I always prioritize health and safety,” he said, explaining that he would do the jump if he was in the right mind-set.

He added: “I don’t want to get too ahead of myself and say that it’s guaranteed that I’m getting that gold medal. I will have to put in that work for the long program, so I’m not going to take it for granted.”