Ilia Malinin’s bounce-back world title marks fresh start for Quadg0d

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Ilia Malinin’s bounce-back world title marks fresh start for Quadg0d

The figure skating world is back on its axis.

The Quadg0d realigned it, reclaiming his position as the best men’s singles skater in the world with a performance that was merely excellent rather than otherworldly.

Ilia Malinin won his third straight world title Saturday in Prague by attempting just (?!?!) five quadruple jumps, none of them his singular quad Axel. He landed all five, the last with a slight penalty for being short of four rotations.

With a huge lead from the short program, Malinin knew he did not need to use his full array of quads in the long program, as he had at December’s Grand Prix Final, when he became the first person to land seven – and one of each type. After all, none of the other 23 men tried more than three.

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Kaori Sakamoto saves best for last in farewell to competitive skating

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Kaori Sakamoto saves best for last in farewell to competitive skating

There is an old adage in show business that advises performers to always leave them wanting more.

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan did that Friday at the World Championships in Prague.

Alas, there will be no more of Sakamoto in competition. At 25, she is leaving that side of figure skating with a fourth world title and an indelible legacy of greatness.

“If you want me to talk about her achievements, you wouldn’t be able to stop me from going on forever,” said her teammate, Mone Chiba, who finished second.

She saved the best — at least by scoring standards — for last, winning with a personal best in the free skate and the highest component scores ever in both the free and short programs.

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Ilia Malinin puts Olympics behind him with historic World Championships short program

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Ilia Malinin puts Olympics behind him with historic World Championships short program

This was the Ilia Malinin everyone had expected to see on that fateful night at last month’s Winter Olympics in Milan.

The one who Thursday did a program with easily the hardest jumps of anyone in the field at the World Championships in Prague.

The one who nailed them all — quadruple flip, then triple Axel, then quadruple Lutz-triple toe loop combination — to command the short program and build a lead of nearly 10 points in his bid for a third straight world title in men’s singles.

Or maybe not quite that Ilia.

“This is another version of me, another part of me that just appeared out of nowhere, the person not trying to put so much expectations on me,” Malinin said Thursday. “This is me just wanting to enjoy doing what I love.”

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Emilea Zingas, Vadym Kolesnik eager to carry on U.S. ice dance tradition

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Emilea Zingas, Vadym Kolesnik eager to carry on U.S. ice dance tradition

Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik went into the Olympics with no expectations.

Barely a month later, as Zingas and Kolesnik ready to compete in their first World Championships together this week in Prague, they have become the standard bearer for U.S. ice dancing, which over the past 22 seasons has flown its flag in awards ceremonies at six straight Olympics and 19 of the last 21 worlds.

This has happened so fast for Zingas and Kolesnik.

The 2026 Winter Games in Milan were the first global championship appearance for them as a couple (Zingas also finished 36th in singles at 2021 Worlds for Cyprus).

She had taken up ice dance only four years ago after having spent more than a decade in singles. All the Olympic attention and pressure was on their U.S. teammates, three-time reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

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Alysa Liu's new reality: fame, fashion and the fast lane

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Alysa Liu's new reality: fame, fashion and the fast lane

Phillip DiGuglielmo began to see the handwriting on the wall not long after murals of Alysa Liu went up in Oakland and suburban Los Angeles.

For two weeks after Liu won the Olympic women’s singles title Feb. 19 in Milan, she and DiGuglielmo, her coach, still planned on going to Prague later this month so she could defend her world title.

“I knew her training wouldn’t be optimal, but we’re used to that,” DiGuglielmo said by telephone. “But this was going to be far from optimal.”

He understood that it was time for Liu to optimize the things coming her way since she became a sensation at the Olympics.

“She is just exploding,” he said. “Even her agents are overwhelmed. You have to balance what is her opportunity to build her brand versus going to worlds.”

By last Friday, she and her team agreed it was best for Liu to withdraw from the World Championships.

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