Ilia Malinin’s first U.S. figure skating title came with rare ambition - and struggles
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Despite struggling in the free skate, Ilia Malinin won the U.S. title. (U.S. Figure Skating photo)
SAN JOSE, California – Ilia Malinin clearly will have mixed emotions when he remembers winning his first U.S. figure skating title.
That was apparent from his reaction after finishing Sunday’s free skate.
The 18-year-old with limitless potential and seemingly limitless confidence had been rattled by his worst free skate of the season.
He shook his head sadly. Then he shook it again.
“Of course, this wasn’t the skate I wanted, but there’s always ups and downs, and you just after get over it and move on,” Malinin said.
He planned the hardest technical program anyone ever had attempted, with six quadruple jumps and two challenging combinations in the second half of the four-minute program. And he gamely kept trying to execute it, even after significant mistakes that would leave him second to surprising Andrew Torgashev in the free skate.
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