If you didn’t know his name yet, you soon will. Ilia Malinin, who trains at Reston’s SkateQuest, landed the second-ever quadruple Axel in competition on Saturday at Skate America in Massachusetts — and became the youngest men’s champion in the history of the event at age 17.
It was just last month that Malinin became the first skater ever to land the quadruple Axel in competition at the International Figure Skating Classic, which is a lower-level event, CNN reported.
“This morning, I wasn’t really sure if I would attempt it or not,” Malinin told NBC Sports on Saturday. “It came over my mind. Everyone’s watching. I have to go for this. I went for it, and I just landed it, and I was in shock. I mean, the whole building was screaming for at least a couple of seconds after that. I didn’t even know the music was still playing.”
The Axel is the most difficult quad jump, with four and a half revolutions. Malinin, known for his Instagram handle @quadg0d, had been in fourth place after his short program on Friday but won by 7.18 after his free skate program on Saturday. He landed a total of five quad jumps in his program.
Northern Virginia Magazine will have an interview with Malinin in our January issue.
Feature image courtesy SkateQuest
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