Sport figure skating
“God of the quadruple jumps” – teenager wins World Cup gold with a miracle stunt
As of: 10:22 a.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
The moment Ilia Malinin sees his reviews
Source: AP/Christinne Muschi
Men’s figure skating finally has a new superstar. At just 19 years old, Ilia Malinin is crowned world champion. The American secured a record number of points in the free skate in front of a roaring spectators. The runner-up is 24 points behind.
American figure skater Ilia Malinin won the world title with an impressive free skate. The 19-year-old showed six flawless quadruple jumps on Saturday in Montreal, Canada, and was rewarded with a free skate record score and the gold medal. “This means a lot to me,” said the winner of the Grand Prix final.
The past few weeks have been a mental and physical challenge for him. He was considering whether he should even travel to Montreal for the World Cup. “When I got on the ice I didn’t know what was going to happen. I could have the freestyle of my life or it could go totally wrong,” said Malinin.
Malinin takes off, the audience is delighted
Quelle: Getty Images via AFP/MINAS PANAGIOTAKIS
It didn’t go wrong. In the final tally, Malinin was almost 24 points ahead of Yuma Kagiyama of Japan. Third place went to the French European champion Adam Siao Him Fa, who had finished in an almost hopeless 19th place after a failed short program.
Stunned, Malinin falls onto the ice
However, Malinin once again lived up to his nickname as the “god of quadruple jumps”. Among the jumps, each with four revolutions, there was also the hardest one: the Axel. And the fans at the Bell Center in Montreal went wild as Malinin seemingly effortlessly conjured one jump after another onto the ice. At the end of the program to music from the “Succession” series, the American fell on the ice. It seemed as if he himself couldn’t believe what he had just accomplished.
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The US ice dancers Madison Chock/Evan Bates defended their world title with an expressive routine to “Time” by Pink Floyd. Silver went to the Canadians Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier, who won the free skate but remained behind their competitors overall. The European champions Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri from Italy won bronze.
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Nikita Starostin (Dortmund) and the ice dancers Jennifer Janse van Rensburg/Benjamin Steffan (Oberstdorf) were only able to watch the final day of the World Championships from the stands: they had not qualified for the final.
