Ilya Malinin, whose parents Tatyana Malinina and Roman Skornyakov represented Uzbekistan (from 1992 to 2002), has become the top favorite for the Olympics in figure skating. Global media have dubbed the 21-year-old American a skater who "defies the laws of physics."

Tatyana Malinina competed in Soviet-era union-level events and, after the USSR's dissolution, in Russian competitions. Starting in 1993, she began representing Uzbekistan. She is a ten-time national champion of Uzbekistan. In 2000, she was awarded the title "Honored Athlete of Uzbekistan." She participated in two Winter Olympic Games.

Roman Skornyakov competed under the Russian flag until 1996 and under the Uzbek flag from 1997 to 2002 in international events. He participated in the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics as part of the Uzbek national team.

Tatyana Malinina and Roman Skornyakov moved first to Russia and then to the United States due to a lack of fundamental training conditions in Uzbekistan, aiming to prepare adequately for competitions. After ending their professional careers in 2002, the couple remained in the U.S. They now coach their son, young figure skater Ilya Malinin.

Ilya Malinin has been considered a leading star in men's singles figure skating for several years. At the Winter Olympics, he competed as a two-time world champion and won a gold medal in the team event.

The athlete was born and raised in the U.S., speaks Russian and English fluently, and represents the U.S. national team.

Currently, Malinin is the most proficient jumper in men's figure skating history: he has mastered all six quadruple jumps, including the quadruple Axel. He is the first and only skater to have cleanly landed a quadruple Axel not only in practice but also in competition. This is the most difficult type of jump, requiring not four but four and a half rotations.

A few years ago, the quadruple Axel was considered nearly impossible by experts. According to The New York Times, Malinin experiences a load 8-10 times his body weight upon landing (and this load falls entirely on one leg). Malinin also became the first in the world to perform seven quadruple jumps in a single program.

Malinin has faced criticism for several years over allegedly insufficiently artistic programs and lack of artistry. But now, it seems there are no objections: for several seasons, Ilya Malinin has been incorporating backflips into his performances, including landing on one foot.

In Milan, Malinin performed a backflip twice—he became the first athlete to legally execute this element on Olympic ice and the third figure skater in Olympic history to perform such an acrobatic move: previously, this element was banned due to danger. Starting in 2024, backflips are permitted only for showmanship, meaning this element does not earn extra points.

Malinin performs his free skate, prepared for the Olympics, to music with a recording of his own voice. According to The Atlantic, the skater utters "a series of lofty phrases," such as: "Start from a place where light hasn't reached yet, where no path has opened." The publication notes that "sometimes his words can seem as simple as a student's"—but Ilya is indeed a student. He is a sophomore at George Mason University.

Currently, Ilya actively manages his social media pages (where he calls himself QuadGod, meaning "god of quadruple jumps").

Source: www.gazeta.uz