Ilia Malinin Height, Age, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ilia Malinin

• His mother, Tatiana Malinina, had represented Uzbekistan in the Olympics. In 1999, she won the Grand Prix Final, Four Continents championship, and was a ten-time Uzbek national champion.

• His father, Roman Skorniakov, had also represented Uzbekistan in the Olympics and won the Uzbek national title 7 times.

• He received his mother’s last name because his parents thought that his father’s last name was too hard to pronounce.

• His maternal grandfather, Valery Malinin, had represented the Soviet Union in skating, and after retirement, he started working as a skating coach in Novosibirsk, Russia.

• When he was six years old, he started learning to skate in 2010 with his parents in Reston, Virginia.

  

  A childhood picture of Ilia Malinin

• As a kid, he liked playing soccer more than training skates in a cold rink. His parents tried hard to push him on skates; however, his grandfather told them to be patient. His grandfather asked his parents,
  

  He’ll [gain] his triple jumps, [and then] you won’t be able to drag him away.”

• In 2016, he won the U.S. national juvenile title.

• After that, he won the 2017 U.S. intermediate title and the 2019 U.S. novice bronze.

• In 2018, he participated in the 2018 Asian Open Trophy and won a gold medal.

  

  Ilia Malinin in 2018

• That same year, he clinched a silver medal at the Golden Bear of Zagreb.

• After that, he made his junior international debut and won a gold at the Philadelphia Summer International.

• In 2019, he participated in the ISU Junior Grand Prix and palced 4th in the USA and 7th in Italy.

  

  Ilia Malinin at the 2019 Junior Grand Prix in the United States of America

• In 2020, he did not participate in the U.S. Championships due to an injury.

• He then participated in the 2020 World Junior Championships and placed 16th overall (13th in short program, 18th in free skate).

• In 2020, the ISU Junior Grand Prix championships were cancelled due to COVID-19, so he could not compete there.

• After that, he competed in the Skate America and placed fifth. In this championship, he showed two new quad jumps (toe loop and Salchow) that he practised and learned during the COVID-19 lockdown.

• In late 2020, when he was learning quadruple jumps, he created an Instagram profile with the name ‘ilia_quadg0d_malinin,’ which motivates him.

• He then participated in the Las Vegas Invitational, where he helped Team Tara beat Team Johnny.

• After that, he missed the qualifying event due to an ankle injury and could not participate in the 2021 U.S. Championships.

• In 2021, he competed in the Junior Grand Prix organised in Courchevel, France, and won a gold medal. During this event, he messed up both quad jumps in his free skate.

• After that, in a media conversation, he shared that it became tough for him when he did not compete for a year.

• He then competed in the 2021 Junior Grand Prix organised in Linz, Austria and won a gold medal.

• In Linz, he performed a quad Salchow in the free skate but flubbed a quad toe loop attempt.

• After winning two gold medals, he qualified for the 2021 Junior Grand Prix Final, but the championships got cancelled due to the Omicron variant in Japan.

• In his senior career, he became known for his strong skills in landing many quad jumps, including quad-quad combinations.

• In November 2021, he participated in the Cup of Austria, where he placed 13th in the short program but placed second in the free skate and won a bronze medal.

  

  Ilia Malinin at the 2021 Cup of Austria

• In 2022, he was named in the World Junior Championships, which was delayed to mid-April from March. The location of the event was shifted from Bulgaria to Estonia.

• During the event, he set a junior world record of 88.99 in a short program. He also won the free skate event and won a gold medal by 42 points.

• In 2022, he competed at the 2022 U.S. Championships and placed third in the short program. In the free skate, he performed four quad jumps and stood second, winning a silver medal.

• After winning silver, he got qualified for the Olympic team, but the committee picked Jason Brown, who stood fourth, and that choice caused some controversy.

• That same year, Malinin was chosen for his first World Championships.

• Before the 2022 World Championships, Malinin participated in the International Challenge Cup and won a gold medal.

• At the Worlds in Montpellier, France, he placed fourth in the short program. In the free skate, he blew two quad jumps and earned ninth position.

• He competed at the 2022 U.S. International Classic and stood sixth in the short program.

• During the same championships, his free skate used music from Euphoria and was choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne. He performed five quad jumps, including the first-ever quad Axel performed in international competition.

• Adam Rippon, American figure skater, called it,
  

  The craziest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do on the ice.”

• He also performed a tough triple Lutz-triple Axel combination. He then fell on a quad Lutz attempt, but landed all other jumps. He won the free skate and won a gold medal with 257.28 points.

• He then competed at the Japan Open for Team North America and placed second in the men’s free skate event with 193.42 points.

• In 2022, at the senior Grand Prix, Skate America, he fell on his quad toe loop but scored 86.08 in the short program and placed fourth.

• In the free skate, he fell on a quad Lutz-triple Salchow combination but performed four clean quads. He also performed a quad toe loop, quad Lutz, and quad Salchow in the program.

• He messed up a Lutz combo later, got up, and performed a triple flip-triple toe and triple Lutz-triple Axel.

• In the free skate, he scored 194.29 for a total of 280.37, scoring first overall at Skate America, becoming the youngest men’s event winner ever in Skate America history.
  

  Ilia Malinin at the 2022 Skate AMerica championships

• He then competed in the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo, where he stood second in the short program.

• He won a gold medal in the free skate and received his second Grand Prix title.

• He then participated in the 2022 Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy, where he placed fifth in the short program with 80.10 points. He stood second in the free skate and won the bronze medal.

• At the 2023 U.S. Championships, he stood first in the short program and second in the free skate but won gold overall due to his short program lead.

• At the 2023 World Championships, he placed second in the short program with 100.38 points. His free skate included the first-ever quad Axel at an ISU championship, which earned him 188.06 points.

• He stood third in the free skate and won a bronze medal overall with 288.44 total.

• Malinin won a gold medal at the 2023 Autumn Classic International.

• He then joined Team North America at the Japan Open and helped the team to secure second position.

• At the 2023 Grand Prix de France, he won a silver medal and qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Beijing, where he became the first to land a quad Axel in a short program.

  

  Ilia Malinin after winning a silver medal in 2023

• In the free skate, he performed a quad loop and became the first skater ever to do all six types of quad jumps in competition. He then won the whole event by more than 17 points.

• In 2024, he competed at the U.S. Nationals and won both the short program and free skate.

• At the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, Canada, he stood third in the short program. In the free skate, he performed six quad jumps, including two in combos and a triple Lutz-triple Axel sequence.

  

  Ilia Malinin during his exhibition program at the 2024 World Championships

• He won the free skate and made a world record 227.79 and took the overall World title with 333.76 total.

• He then competed at the 2024 Lombardia Trophy and scored 100 points in the short program and 200 points in the free skate, and won a gold medal with 300 points overall.

• He then won the 2024 Skate America in the 2024-25 Grand Prix series and then won the 2024 Skate Canada International.

  

  Ilia Malinin after his short program at the 2024 Skate Canada International

• In December 2024, Malinin won the Grand Prix Final and scored 105.43 in the short program.

• In the free skate, he performed seven quad jumps but fell on one of two quad Lutzes. He performed a quad Axel for 186.69 points and a total of 292.12, and won a gold medal.

• He then became the first skater to perform all six types of quads in one program.

• At the 2025 U.S. Championships, he scored 114.08 in the short program and tried all six types of quad jumps in the free skate, but fell on the quad loop and scored 219.23 points for a total of 333.31. He then received his third national title.

  

  Ilia Malinin during his exhibition program at the 2025 World Championships

• On 2 March 2025, Malinin competed in Legacy on Ice, a U.S. Figure Skating show which honoured victims of American Eagle Flight 5342.

• In March 2025, won a gold medal at the World Championships in Boston. In the short program, he scored 110.41, and in the free skate, he scored 208.14, becoming the first to land all six quad jumps (toe loop, Salchow, loop, flip, Lutz, Axel) in one program.

• At the gala, he dedicated his skate to “To Build a Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra to the flight crash victims.

• He then competed for Team USA at the 2025 World Team Trophy and won every men’s event, which helped his team to win a gold medal.

• In September 2025, he competed at the 2025 CS Lombardia Trophy.

• In October 2025, he participated in the 2025 Grand Prix de France and won his sixth individual Grand Prix gold medal.

• Malinin performed a catch foot camel spin in his free skate at the 2026 U.S. Championships.

  

  Ilia Malinin performing a catch foot camel spin during his free skate at the 2026 U.S. Championships

• At the 2025 Skate Canada International, he broke his own free skate record with 228.97 points for a personal best total of 333.81.

• He then won the 2025-26 Grand Prix Final and earned his third title. He set a world record of 238.24 in the free skate, performing a record seven clean quad jumps.

• In January 2026, Malinin competed at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and won his fourth national title.
  

  Ilia Malinin performing a backflip at the 2026 U.S. Championships

• He stood first in both the short program and free skate with a total score of 324.88 points and earned a place in the 2026 Winter Olympic team.

• He is inspired by many noted skaters, including Nathan Chen, Yuzuru Hanyu, Mikhail Kolyada, Evgeni Plushenko, and his mother.

• He often performs on-ice backflips, which he started doing in competitions in the 2024-2025 season after the ban was lifted.

• He has created his own special move called the ‘Raspberry Twist,’ a butterfly entrance into a sideways twist in the air. He named it after his last name, ‘malina,’ which means raspberry in Russian.

  

  Malinin performing his signature ‘Raspberry Twist’

• He likes travelling to distant places in his free time.
  

  Ilia Malinin during a trip to Disneyland

• Ilia Malinin is fluent in English and Russian.