01/08/26 10:43:00
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01/08 22:41 CST Stuffed dragons rain after Ilia Malinin's brilliant short
program at US Figure Skating Championships
Stuffed dragons rain after Ilia Malinin's brilliant short program at US Figure
Skating Championships
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
ST. LOUIS (AP) --- Ilia Malinin delivered such a flawless short program at the
U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Thursday night that it seemed to awe even
himself, and it set the 21-year-old well on his way to a fourth straight title
in his final tune-up for the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The two-time reigning world champion scored 115.10 points for his program, set
to music from the action-adventure game "Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown."
That was nearly 25 clear of Tomoki Hiwatashi and even further ahead of
third-place Jason Brown.
While scores at nationals are typically inflated, Malinin nevertheless
shattered the world-best this season of 108.87 that he set at the Lombardia
Trophy. And he was nearly five points better than his own winning short program
at nationals last year.
"I felt really good," Malinin said, "and everything seemed to flow really well."
Fresh off his third straight Grand Prix Final title, the wunderkind nicknamed
the "Quad God" opened with a brilliant quad flip, then seemed to dance into the
triple axel that vexes so many others. He finished his jumping passes with a
quad lutz-triple toe loop, then added a fan-favorite backflip and his signature
"raspberry twist" to bring the crowd to its feet.
Then those fans littered the ice with dozens of stuffed versions of Toothless
from the film "How to Train Your Dragon."
Malinin stars in an advertising spot for the Dreamworks live-action remake of
the 2010 animated film, which is also being used to help promote NBC's upcoming
coverage of the Winter Games, where he is the overwhelming favorite to win the
gold medal.
"I did not expect that. That was not my plan at all. I was just as surprised as
you," Malinin said of the wave of black stuffed dragons. "That made me feel so
warm. And Toothless is kind of like my spirit animal, so that was incredible."
Malinin has won everything he has entered since the 2023 worlds with the
exception of one Grand Prix, where he finished second. In most of those events,
the only real competition Malinin had was his own stubborn pursuit of
perfection.
He was skipped over for the Olympic team four years ago in Beijing, primarily
due to his age and inexperience. But he's a lock to be on this year's team when
it is announced Sunday, and the big question is which two men will join him.
The 25-year-old Hiwatashi, who was sixth at nationals last year, has been on an
upward trajectory all season. He was fourth at the Cup of China, and his score
of 89.26 on Thursday night left him in podium position ahead of Saturday
night's free skate.
Brown, who is trying to make his third Olympic team, doesn't have the big jumps
of Malinin and other young skaters, but he makes up for it with sublime skating
quality. With a refreshed version of his iconic "Riverdance" program, the
31-year-old Irish jigged his way to a score of 88.49, putting him in position
for a ninth top-three finish at the national championships.
"Performance matters in this sport," Brown said. "It's been really cool to see
everyone improve that performance aspect."
Maxim Naumov, whose parents were killed in the plane crash over the Potomac
River last year, was in fourth with 85.72 points, and Andrew Torgashev was
fifth with 84.99 as they also try to earn a spot on the Olympic team.
"It's the ultimate goal," Naumov said. "That's what we're fighting for."
Earlier in the night, Madison Chock and Evan Bates rocked their way through a
Lenny Kravitz-inspired rhythm dance to build a big lead as they try to break a
tie with Meryl Davis and Charlie White by winning a record seventh ice dance
championship.
The three-time defending world champs, and the heavy favorites to win Olympic
gold, scored a season-best 91.70 points. Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik were
second with 85.98, and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko third with
83.29.
"We felt like this was a really good skate and a good stepping-stone toward
Milan," Chock said.
Zingas and Kolesnik made a statement of their own for inclusion on the Olympic
team. Their high-energy performance, set to music by the Boston-based 1990s
hip-hop, R&B and soul group Bell Biv DeVoe, not only represented their
personal-best by nearly five points but underscored their status as the next
big thing in American ice dance.
"I think nationals, especially in an Olympic year, is a really special event,"
Zingas said. "We felt the crowd behind us for sure. I could hear my sister
screaming throughout our program. Yeah, it was fire, I thought. We felt really
good. I'm really proud of us."
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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