Ilia Malinin | Page 29 | Golden Skate

Ilia Malinin

Is it really a YOLO when he did it at last year's Nationals too in a somewhat similar context? Lol. Wasn't a great skate by any means, but if the alternative to this week's boot issues was withdrawal vs. sloppy free skate and a 2nd national title, I guess he'll take the latter, and I'll take it too! To me, it was a better showing than last year's Nationals, and he seemed to have more fun this year.

I find Ilia to be such an interesting skater and personality. He has such amazing technical content that doesn't even seem hard for him, like pulling out the 4A after not even warming up with it. Just insanity. Apparently he was doing quad flips in practice today also just because. Just mega, mega talented. He's capable of so much. I really want good things for him in the future, because his mentality and talents are very unique in the FS world. I know he wants to pull it all together too, so I'd love to see that for him, and I think overall, he's made a lot of strides this season.
 
Ick, those .pesky boot issues. Better now than at Worlds....I wonder if it's hard for him to stay focused because he doesn't have anyone who is really nipping at his heels. I'm just thinking how in Nathan's case, it never happened, but Vincent was always rather close behind.

Did you guys see that thing on NBC where it said the force he lands with on the 4A is 800 pounds?!
 
I think a lot of this was definitely focus. He had a great SP because he knows he needs to start well. He visibly relaxed after he received his SP scores and he knew he could do whatever he just did tonight and run away with it. I think it kind of hurts his brand and image though. His GPF short program on NBC had 500K+ views on Youtube (taken down now sadly), but I doubt as many will rewatch tonight's LP with interest.

I think internationally, the technical competition now overall is even stiffer than when Nathan was competing, but domestically, Vincent was always there with planned 2 quads in the SP and multiple quads, including a quad lutz, in the long, even if he wasn't very consistent. I don't see someone being a Vincent-like figure there for Ilia any time soon, but he needs to not make a habit of poor Nationals FS showings.
 
I think internationally, the technical competition now overall is even stiffer than when Nathan was competing, but domestically, Vincent was always there with planned 2 quads in the SP and multiple quads, including a quad lutz, in the long, even if he wasn't very consistent. I don't see someone being a Vincent-like figure there for Ilia any time soon, but he needs to not make a habit of poor Nationals FS showings.
I think Worlds is going to be a bloodbath and the top guys are going to have to score over 300, which Ilia can do. I think only he and Adam have scored over 300 this season. Not sure on that though.
 
Can't add anything to the Ilia performance that hasn't been already said here except to say that after the first two jumps, it seemed to me that he seemed to sort of deflate and then he regained consciousness for the step sequence and that triple combo at the end. That was masterful thinking on his feet.
Worlds is going to be a quad fest but I hope it's not a splat fest. All of the top guys can do quads and skate beautiful programs so I hope the best of that can be shown in both programs. The short is going to be very important at Worlds. Ilia got 15.36 for his 4A in the FS and with the talent at Worlds, he has some decisions to make to go for it or not in the short. Can't wait!
 
I hope good decisions are made there as well. If it's worth to do the 4A as the solo quad, then go for it. If not, stick with a different one.

Hopefully Worlds will prove a cleaner event for him overall. I do agree that it seems like things kinda fell flat, but I first thought it was nerves on my end lol.
 
Lots of skaters remained in the rink for a while after the exhibition and were having fun.
Here's a short clip that Ilia tried a reverse jump like Sonia Hilmer:
It's 2024. Ilia would have been much shorter if it was 2014.
 
Ilia won the Most Valuable Skater award for the ISU Skating Awards!

 
I'm confused by how Ilia seems to prepare for Nationals and Worlds every year. To spend half the time from Jan-March abroad and doing shows rather than training and focusing on the biggest competitions of the year does not make a lot of sense to me. I wonder if one of his parents is even there to coach him in between shows or if it's just his agent. I'd be very disappointed if he never competes at a 4CC in favor of Art On Ice every year.
 
Here's a pretty casual looking 4T-4A sequence.

 
Here's a pretty casual looking 4T-4A sequence.

That’s like a…21 BV alone if I’m correct.
 
Well however he trains it must be working for him! With my many years of being a fan and my lack of the finer technicalities or edge-calling, etc. I think Ilia has improved immeasurably over the past year. His choreography fits his style of skating (unlike previous years (IMO) and his ability to interpret the music has improved in leaps and bounds. And we must always remember that he's still very, very young.
 
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