Ilia Malinin aims for Olympic gold after short program performance

Ilia Malinin positioned himself to be in contention for a gold medal after a dominant men’s figure skating short program performed Tuesday at the Winter Olympics.

Malinin, nicknamed the “Quad God,” showed his warrior spirit throughout his performance on the ice. Once he landed the quad flip on his first jump, all bets were off from there.

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The 21-year-old Virginia native moved gracefully across the ice, landing a triple axel before launching into his new camel spin. He went up for a triple quad Lutz toe loop and when he came back down he seemed to punch himself and smile knowing he hit it as perfectly as possible.

As the energy increased in the routine, Malinin landed a backflip – which drew cheers from around the arena. He completed the program with several rounds.

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Ilia Malinin at center ice during the men’s figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

“He’s the benchmark,” NBC broadcaster Johnny Weir said as Malinin waited for his scores.

Malinin scored a 108.16. That was enough to stay ahead of Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who scored 103.07, and France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, who scored 102.55.

Malinin already has one Olympic gold medal as Team USA won a mixed team event last week. In this event, he competed in the free skate portion and scored a 200.03. This gave the Americans 10 points and allowed Team USA to win the gold medal.

Ilia Malinin performs a trick during the men’s figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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The men’s singles free skating event will take place on Friday.