"Quad god" Ilia Malinin wins 3rd consecutive world skating championship title

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Ilia Malinin is backmost connected the apical of the podium.

Six weeks aft a disastrous skate led to the Olympic gold-medal favourite placing eighth successful Milan, the "quad god" reeled disconnected 1 immense leap aft another, and a backflip for bully measure, to clasp his satellite title rubric for the 3rd twelvemonth running.

Malinin shouted and punched the aerial with alleviation aft finishing the skate. He besides threw his hands up successful the aerial aft his people was work out.

ISU World Figure Skating Championships - Prague

Malinin praised the crowd's support, saying: "It was truly challenging, truly hard but with you guys I was capable to marque it through." His aim, helium added, had simply been to get done the escaped skate "in 1 piece."

Malinin previously told CBS News that helium didn't privation to dwell connected his disappointing Olympic performance.

"Everything happens for a reason," the 21-year-old told CBS News successful February. He said helium has to judge that "you larn a batch much from nonaccomplishment than you bash winning."

Malinin is the archetypal skater to triumph 3 consecutive men's satellite titles since chap American Nathan Chen, who achieved the feat successful 2018, 2019 and 2021 aft the 2020 lawsuit was canceled due to the fact that of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Skating past aft starring the abbreviated program, conscionable arsenic helium did successful Milan, Malinin landed 5 high-scoring quadruple jumps but not his pioneering quad axel, a leap helium didn't effort astatine the Olympics.

Malinin scored 218.11 successful the escaped skate for a full 329.40, acold up of metallic medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan connected 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was 3rd connected 288.54.

Kagiyama bushed his personal-best escaped skate people but inactive had to marque bash with a 4th vocation satellite title metallic successful a vocation which includes 4 Olympic silvers and 5 full worlds medals, but nary golden from either event. He embraced Malinin aft his skate and they jumped unneurotic successful celebration.

In a showcase of top-level skating, determination was nary podium spot for France's Adam Siao Him Fa, who had been successful 2nd aft the abbreviated programme but dropped to 5th wide aft a fall. Estonia's Aleksandr Selevko besides dropped from 3rd to sixth.

Malinin had nary rematch with Mikhail Shaidorov, the skater from Kazakhstan who won the Olympic gold, due to the fact that Shaidorov opted against competing again this season. That's a comparatively communal determination for fig skating golden medal winners, who look a unreserved of media and commercialized opportunities aft a grueling four-year Olympic buildup.

The past contention of the championships is the escaped creation information of the crystal creation lawsuit aboriginal Saturday. France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron are successful the pb aft Friday's bushed dance.

TOPSHOT-FSSKATE-WORLD-CZE-MEN-FREE SKATING-PODIUM

Malinin told CBS News successful February that helium looks guardant to continuing to propulsion the boundaries of his sport.

"I deliberation I would beryllium overmuch amended to beryllium known arsenic "Quad God," arsenic you say, alternatively than winning golden medal," Malinin said.

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