Ilia Malinin Is Back
March 29, 2026
Defector
Chances are you—and certainly not I—did not need redemption at 21. At that age, I was in college, and my world mostly revolved around working at the student-run newspaper, getting clips, doing my best to line up another summer internship, hanging out with my friends, and also finding time to do all my classwork. When I did screw up, which of course I did because I was 21, invariably someone would tell me not to worry about it too much.
I had the whole rest of my life ahead of me. My future stretched out before me like an endless road, and this was just the beginning. But I was not an elite athlete in an Olympic sport. Every athlete's time in the arena is short, for some even more so than others. For Olympians, the grandest stage comes just once every four years, always in a different country, never on your own terms. So, yes, at the age of 21, figure skating superstar Ilia Malinin—the self described quad god who failed to medal at the Olympics in the men's individual event despite being the heavy favorite—was looking for redemption. He had one last shot at it on Saturday, at this year's world championships in Prague. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ot7C7DyVkt=1s
Defector
Coverage and analysis from United States of America. All insights are generated by our AI narrative analysis engine.