Ilia Malinin surges into lead with thrilling short program

MILAN -- American figure skater Ilia Malinin delivered his best performance of the Milan Cortina Games on Tuesday, landing two quadruple jumps and even throwing in a backflip in an electrifying men's short program to take the lead.

Malinin posted 108.16 points, more than five clear of Japan's Yuma Kagiyama (103.07), with France's Adam Siao Him Fa third with 102.55.

Malinin, the heavy favorite for the men's title, did not showcase his full repertoire in his two outings during the team event but still did enough to help the United States grab gold on Sunday.

He looked far closer to his peak on Tuesday, feeding off a loud contingent of American fans as he flaunted the technical arsenal that has helped draw new attention to the sport.

"I want to call it Olympic pressure," he told reporters.

"Going out there the first time, hitting that Olympic ice and feeling the atmosphere. I didn't expect it to be so much, and it took me a little while to understand what really happened, but now that I understand it, I took a different approach today," he said.

"Really just take things nice and calm, nice and slow, just relaxed, and really just pushed the autopilot button and let it cruise."

Kagiyama paid the price for a stumbled landing on his triple Axel, while Siao Him Fa produced a confident and clean skate to boost his hopes of making the podium on Friday.

"I was a bit frustrated with the triple Axel... my goal now is to perform a free skate that I'm happy with," Kagiyama, who had upstaged Malinin with his short program in the team event, told reporters through a translator.

"I'm trying to... add more quadruple jumps and increase my offensive power... and hopefully the result will come along," the 2022 Beiling Olympics silver medalist added.

Many present at the Milano Ice Skating Arena were buzzing in anticipation that Malinin would unleash a quadruple Axel -- a four-and-a-half-rotation jump that only he has landed in competition -- as it was published on his list of planned elements.

But he told reporters that he never intended to attempt the jump on Tuesday, saying he forgot to change the list ahead of time.

He opted instead for a quadruple flip, then scored heavily for a quadruple Lutz-triple toeloop combination.

He also threw cold water on the likelihood of performing a quad Axel in Friday's free skate, saying he was prioritizing "health and safety."

The Virginia native is one of the biggest attractions of the Winter Games and shouldering a heavy weight of expectation after winning 14 competitions in a row and going undefeated since November 2023.

The first-time Olympian looked more comfortable on Tuesday, raising his arms to soak in the roar of the crowd when he was introduced ahead of his program. He then threw some boxing punches towards the camera as he skated off the ice.

NAUMOV HONORS PARENTS

Earlier, Malinin's teammate Maxim Naumov skated with a heavy heart in his Olympic debut, delivering an emotional performance a little over a year after his parents were killed in a plane crash near Washington, D.C.

"I felt like I was guided by them today," Naumov, who held up a childhood photo of himself holding hands with his parents following his performance, told reporters.

"With every glide and step that I made on the ice, I couldn't help but feel their support. They were guiding me from one element to another.

"At the end, I finished on my knees, and I didn't know if I was going to cry, smile or laugh, and all I could do was look up and say, ‘Look what we just did.'"

Naumov scored 85.65 points and sits in 14th place.

In a lighter moment, fan favorite Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate of Spain laid down his short program to music from the "Minions" film franchise while dressed as one of the animated characters in a yellow T-shirt and blue overalls.

Guarino Sabate earned global headlines when he was told shortly before the Games that he would not be allowed to use the music for copyright reasons, but Universal Studios eventually gave him the green light.

The six-time Spanish champion from Barcelona stumbled on his first jump, a triple Axel, but received encouragement from fans clapping along to the song.

Unfortunately, he narrowly failed to make the cut for Friday's free skate after finishing 25th, one place below the qualifying cut-off.

--Reuters, special to Field Level Media