US figure skating star Ilia Malinin secured his third consecutive men's gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, held in Prague, Czech Republic. This victory comes just one month after a highly publicized and difficult experience at the Winter Olympics, where Malinin, the overwhelming favorite, suffered a significant setback.
Malinin dominated the competition from start to finish, ultimately winning the title with a commanding margin of 22.73 points over his closest rival, Japan's Yuma Kagiyama. Japan's Shun Sato completed the podium by taking the bronze medal. After his final performance, an emotional Malinin expressed his relief and satisfaction, saying, "It's done. That's it." He described his main goal for the free skate as simply completing the program without major issues, a goal he achieved. "My expectation was to finish my free programme in one piece and that has definitely happened," he said.
The 21-year-old American explained that he felt a great sense of relief now that the season had ended on a positive note. He shared that he approached the championships with a different mindset than usual. "All I wanted to do was escape from myself and enjoy every moment on the ice and have fun, and that is exactly what I did," Malinin told reporters.
Malinin's triumph in Prague marked a remarkable comeback after his disappointing performance at the Beijing Winter Olympics just a month earlier. At those Games, Malinin was the clear favorite, having been undefeated for over two years. He led the men's singles competition after the short program but faltered in the free skate, ultimately finishing in eighth place. The Olympic gold medal was won by Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov, while Kagiyama and Sato took silver and bronze respectively. Shaidorov, the Olympic champion, did not participate in the World Championships.
At the World Championships, Malinin carried a 9.44-point lead from the short program on Thursday into the free skate on Saturday. Unlike his Olympic performance, he adopted a more cautious approach this time, notably simplifying technical elements in his routine. Most significantly, he replaced his signature quadruple Axel jump with a triple Axel and reduced the number of quadruple jumps from seven to five. Despite these adjustments, Malinin delivered an impressive free skate, earning a score of 218.11 points. His total combined score for the event was 329.40 points, sealing his commanding victory.
Malinin's three consecutive world championships make him the first men's skater to achieve this feat since fellow American Nathan Chen, who won three straight titles from 2018 to 2021. Reflecting on his experience, Malinin described this championship as one of the easier ones he had attended, thanks largely to the pressure he endured at the Olympics. "Going here I felt like it was almost no pressure at all," he said. "I've completely blocked out all the expectations, all the pressure that people put on me. And I was really here just to skate for myself and enjoy every moment of the world championships."
Yuma Kagiyama, 22, moved up from sixth place after the short program to secure his fifth world championship medal and fourth silver medal overall, finishing with 306.67 points. Shun Sato, also 22, earned his first world championship medal by rising from fourth place after the short program to claim bronze. Meanwhile, France's Adam Siao Him Fa, who was second after the short program, dropped to fifth place following a fall during his free skate routine.
The World Figure Skating Championships concluded their four-day event later on Saturday with the ice dance competition. Olympic champions Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry claimed the gold medal. For Cizeron, this victory marked his sixth world title, adding to five previous wins with his former partner Gabriella Papadakis between 2015 and 2022. For Fournier Beaudry, who is Canadian-born, this was her first world championship medal.
The French ice dance pair entered the free dance with a comfortable lead of more than six points over the Canadian duo Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who had won the bronze medal at the Milan-Cortina Olympics just a month earlier. Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry delivered the top free dance performance of the night with a score of 138.07 points, finishing the competition with a total of 230.81 points.
Gilles and Poirier secured the silver medal with a total score of 211.52 points. Meanwhile, Americans Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik impressed with their free dance performance and narrowly edged out Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson to claim the bronze medal.
Overall, the 2024 World Figure Skating Championships showcased some of the sport's best talents rising to the occasion after the recent Winter Olympic Games. Ilia Malinin's story of resilience and determination stood out, as he overcame the disappointment of the Olympics to reclaim his position at the top of the men's figure skating world. His victory, along with strong performances from rising stars and established champions in other categories, made the championships a memorable conclusion to the figure skating season.