Ilia Malinin's redemption arc begins with personal-best short program at World Figure Skating Championships

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Ilia Malinin bounced back from a disappointing end to his first Olympics with a triumphant short program performance on March 26 at the 2026 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun - International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty Images)
Jurij Kodrun - International Skating Union via Getty Images

Ilia Malinin landed his trademark backflip Thursday at the 2026 ISU World Figure Skating Champions in Prague, where he’s trying to flip the script after succumbing to the pressure of his first Olympics last month.

In order to pull that off, the “Quad God” will need to exorcise some demons on Saturday with a bounce-back free skate performance. But the 21-year-old’s redemption arc began with a personal-best short program that put him in position to three-peat as a world champion.

Doing so would be a return to form for the American figure skating superstar, who hadn’t lost an event since November 2023 before plummeting to eighth in men’s singles at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

And it would make him the first U.S. skater since Nathan Chen to win three straight world titles.

HE'S BAAAACK
With his eyes set on a three-peat, Ilia Malinin brought the ENERGY for his return to the ISU Figure Skating World Championships! pic.twitter.com/griQYRL4gN

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) March 26, 2026

Putting on artistic yet emphatic display that featured a quad flip, a triple axel and a quad lutz-triple toe loop combination, Malinin recorded a score of 111.29 points, the highest he’s ever logged in a short program.

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He’s ahead of France’s Adam Siao Him Fa (101.85 points), Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko (96.49) and Japan’s Shun Sato (95.84) — the men’s singles bronze medalist at this year’s Olympics — among others in the top 10.

Ilia Malinin’s reaction to his STUNNING score of 111.29 in the men’s short program says it ALL! pic.twitter.com/cwzSNTWBxV

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) March 26, 2026

Notably, Japanese standout Yuma Kagiyama, who won silver in the individual event in Italy, finished his short program with a fall on an invalid jump. He got caught on the ice and, as a result, was only able to turn in an imperfect single axel instead of a planned triple axel, a costly error that led to him receiving a score of 93.80, good for only sixth.


Malinin took home a gold in the team event at this year’s Olympics, but his infamous free skate dominated headlines. The way he’s handled that shocking, fall-riddled collapse has been admirable, though, and, if Thursday’s performance is any indication, his road back to the top of the skating world might be a short one.

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