The quadruple jump war has stalked figure skating for years. But a future legend has been built on her, a teenager who is nicknamed the god of quads. A divine appellation for a 19-year-old young man of dubious earthliness. Ilia Malinin – an American of Uzbek origin – has marked his name in skating history after breaking the free skate score record – 227.79 points – and becoming world champion this weekend on the cold night of Montreal with a program with six quadruple jumps. One of them, a quadruple axel, the most technically complicated jump that only he has achieved in official competition. An orphan crown movement, which he executed—on two different occasions—two years ago. This time, for the first time in a world championship. A privileged leap that the Japanese myth Yuzuru Hanyu eagerly pursued, and that ended up being an obsession with a taste of condemnation: he never managed to execute it. “What he has done was something unthinkable and unfeasible five or six years ago, it is a leap that had never been made in history. What he has achieved, and many others have achieved in training, is incredible,” Javier Fernández, two-time world champion, seven-time European champion and Olympic bronze in figure skating, tells EL PAÍS. And he adds: “He has a technique that seems from another world.”

For all this, he did not miss his astonishment and collapse on the ice at the end of the routine. Four minutes of the theme song from the HBO series Succession, interrupted by the cheers of the audience as he performed the quadruple axel, and which ended with the stands on their feet and Malinin lying on the ice with his hands on his face. Without being aware of what he had just accomplished. “Only four-lap jumps had been achieved. The axel has half a turn more, so the quadruple axel is doing four and a half. That half turn adds difficulty,” explains Fernández. A very technical jump, also, due to the transfer of weight from one side to the other when starting with the left leg and landing with the right. “The most complicated thing is to achieve height going straight and enough rotational force to complete the four and a half turns, where the only help is that of your legs,” confesses the Spaniard.

Milanin, a native of Fairfax (Virginia) and of Uzbek origin – his parents, and also coaches, were skaters in Uzbekistan – was not the first time he had performed the movement in official competition. In 2022 and at the age of 17 he became the first athlete to perform the jump, first at the US International Classic and then at Skate America. A frustrated wish of Yuzuru, double Olympic champion and double world champion, who wanted to culminate his career by achieving the quad axel. “The main reason why I want to go to the Beijing Games is because I want to complete this jump,” said the Japanese skater. His secret weapon was double-edged, and ultimately failed. Only Ilia has been able to channel Yuzuru’s obsession. “Hanyu inspired me to try to do it,” the Yankee confessed after completing it for the first time.

Some skaters try it in their training, but do not perform it in competition. “The way Ilia does it, it seems risk-free. For another skater, it’s a jump with a lot of falls and training. If you are tired and you make a mistake, you can hurt yourself,” Javier shares. Dressed in a suit reminiscent of a classic tuxedo, Ilia completed a total of six quadruple jumps in the Montreal program. “It is very complicated for anyone, although not for him. Because of the preparation, the entries you must have are longer, and you need more time, which is limited in a program,” Fernández states.

But Ilia didn’t make a mistake in any of them. “I have no words to describe this, it’s incredible. But stay tuned for next season, we have many surprises,” commented the American after his performance. And his next ambition is clear: the quintuple jump. “I like to push the limits of physical abilities and this sport,” Malinin shared. “He has already broken great barriers, I don’t see it as impossible, but it is difficult,” adds Javier about the possibility of achieving a five-lap jump for the first time. And although he is now at the technical peak of skating, not everything was easy. “The last few weeks have been mentally and physically challenging. I even considered whether I could come or not. “It was a last minute decision, but I wanted to come to see what I could offer on the ice,” said the athlete. Ilia has risen meteorically. Furious, sudden, sudden, but not momentary. A tremendous speed that only he knows and achieves.

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