NoVA Skater Ilia Malinin Wins Gold Again At World Championships

RESTON, VA — Vienna native Ilia Malinin successfully defended his world title in the free skating program of Saturday night’s ice skating world championships in Boston, making him the favorite for a gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy.

The 20-year-old who skates for the Washington Figure Skating Club and trains at the rink in Reston, delivered a high-flying, high-energy performance, earning him a standing ovation from the crowd at TD Garden, according to the Associated Press.

“I was so glad I was able to work out the whole season to get to this moment,” Malinin said, according to AP. “It means a lot to me.”

He finished with a season-best 318.56 points after his free skate, set to “I’m Not a Vampire” by Falling In Reverse, to win his second gold medal by more than 31 points. That was enough to beat Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 287.47 points, and reigning Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, who wound up third with 278.19.

Malinin is the only skater in history who has ever landed a quadruple axle in competition, landing six out of seven of his quad jumps at the U.S. championship in January, according to NBC4 News.

He did not land a quadruple axle during Saturday's performance, but the self-proclaimed "Quad God" did land six quads during his free skate, USA Today reported.

"It's been an incredible feeling ever since I landed that I was really not expecting to land at this soon in my career, but I'm very happy that I was able to achieve that," Malinin told Aimee Cho of NBC News4 "Ever since I was little, when I first stepped on the ice, I kind of felt something, and I really wanted to keep skating on and on."

Malinin skated in a tribute ceremony March 2 to honor coaches, figure skaters and family members killed in the Jan. 29 plane crash near Reagan National Airport when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army Blackhawk helicopter. Twenty-eight of the plane passengers were part of the figure-skating community returning from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas.

The XXV Olympic Winter Games are scheduled to take place Feb. 6-22, in Milano Cortina in 2026.