When it comes to winning, Vienna resident and international figure skating sensation Ilia Malinin appears unstoppable.
Ilia Malinin Defends His Crown
The 20-year-old skater took gold again on Saturday, March 29, at the 2025 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Boston, having achieved the same feat in 2024. The victory follows a solid gold Grand Prix season. And it positions Malinin as the favored men’s competitor for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Corina 2026 in Italy this coming February.
Malinin ended the event with a season-best score of 318.56, well above silver winner Mikhail Shaidorov (Kazakhstan, 287.47) and bronze winner Yuma Kagiyama (Japan, 278.19).
“I want to thank all the Northern Virginia fans for supporting me and being here through this time at the world championships,” Malinin told Northern Virginia Magazine at the conclusion of the event. “It really means a lot being the back-to-back world champion. And I’m so happy that I am a part of Northern Virginia.”
Hometown Skating Star
Northern Virginia Magazine first interviewed Malinin in 2022 when he became (and remains) the first athlete to successfully complete figure skating’s most difficult jump, the quad Axel, in competition. We interviewed him again about his life in Northern Virginia in 2024 after he took gold at the World Championships in Montreal.
Malinin brought down the house at Boston’s TD Garden and took gold in both the short and free skate men’s competitions. He skated to the tunes “Running,” by NF, and “I’m Not a Vampire,” by Falling in Reverse, respectively.
In both programs, Malinin displayed stunning new levels of emotional confidence, physical maturity, and showmanship. He boldly approached the ice with chin up and shoulders squared at the beginning of each program. His playful entrance, complete with on-ice backflip, and he beamed at the closing podium ceremony.
In Northern Virginia, we’ve had a front-row seat watching this hometown hero grow from a budding young athlete to an unmatched champion. Event announcers in Boston, referencing Malinin’s famous quad combinations and unique style, said Malinin is “transforming” the sport, using terms like “otherworldly” and “unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”
Going for Seven Quads
The self-named “Quadg0d” included an impressive six quads in both programs in Boston. But it fell short of his personal goal of including seven quads. The disappointment eluded most viewers, and perhaps was felt by only Malinin himself.
Malin addressed that disappointment when answering a question from a Washington Post reporter at a post-event press conference on Saturday night. “That seven-quad layout for me is really my ideal layout, and I really wanted to nail this and have it be comfortable, effortless . . . I really want it so I can have another kind of history marking, but I’m really happy for being able to come here . . . to just give it my all and get that second world title.”
Malinin said later in the press conference: “I really like to try these difficult quad combinations and play around with how many different quads I can put in a single combination. I think for me it’s kind of the joy of skating. And it shows my strength in the technical side. But overall, I find joy and I find happiness just trying to go for these and trying to make new ones.”
Malinin continues to surprise everyone, even himself, a thought he shared with another reporter at the press conference: “I’ve been getting the skating skills and the components up. I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made [since landing that first quad axel]. At that time, if I were to see myself now, I wouldn’t think I was the same person. I think I’ve changed and developed as a skater and as a person, and I’m really happy for that.”
Feature image courtesy Ari Zakarian
