Ilia Malinin sets personal best to lead after short program at world championships | Figure skating

Ilia Malinin arrived in Massachusetts as the clear favorite to defend his world figure skating championship. On Thursday afternoon at TD Garden, he performed like a man unbothered by that weight, launching his title defense with one of the greatest short programs ever performed.

The 20-year-old American nicknamed the Quad God delivered a career-best first segment, scoring 110.41 points to take a 3.32-point lead over Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama heading into Saturday night’s free skate. It was the highest short program score of Malinin’s international career, and ranks behind only Olympic gold medallists Nathan Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu on the ISU’s all-time list.

With Kagiyama also skating one of the best programs on record – about one point shy of a personal best himself – the stage is set for a showdown between two of the most electrifying skaters in the sport today. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov (94.77), this year’s Four Continents winner, sits in third but more than 15 points adrift of Malinin’s mark.

“I can’t describe how I feel right now,” Malinin said. “All I remember is getting on that ice. I felt really nervous, more than usual, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. But once the music came on, I just got into a flow state and it really just went from there.”

Malinin’s performance, set to Running by the American rapper NF, included a clean quadruple flip, a triple Axel and a quad Lutz–triple toe loop combination. He typically saves his signature quad Axel – the four-and-a-half-revolution jump that had never been landed in competition until Malinin pulled it off at the 2022 US Classic – for the free skate. He hasn’t lost since 2023 and is riding a win streak of eight straight events.

By the time he completed his final step sequence with about a half-minute to go, the entire building was on its feet and aroar. “I heard the cheering but I didn’t take enough time to see how people were reacting to me,” Malinin said. “I was so excited. I didn’t even finish skating yet and they were already standing and cheering me so loud.”

His main rival, Kagiyama, was elegant and precise in his own right through his exquisite routine to Montenegrin guitarist Miloš Karadaglic’s cover of The Sound of Silence, continuing a return to form after an injury-hit season. The 2022 Olympic and three-time world silver medalist had offered an extraordinary confession seated beside Malinin at last year’s worlds after coming in second – “If we both perform at 100% of our ability, I don’t think that I will be able to win,” he said – but has spent the year recommitting himself to closing the gap.

Yet in Thursday’s aftermath, a familiar resignation crept into the frame. “He does all those difficult jumps, and he makes them look effortless,” the 21-year-old from Nagoya said through a translator. “Maybe he is putting [out] effort, but to us, it looks effortless and really easy. And it’s not just his jumps. I feel like his skating and his artistry, his expression is getting better year by year, so I’m starting to think he’s invincible.”

Behind them, France’s Adam Siao Him Fa – bronze medallist at last year’s worlds and the reigning European champion – has work to do after falling on the back half of his opening quad Lutz-triple toe combination and placing ninth (87.22). The 23-year-old was the last skater to beat Malinin internationally, back at the 2023 Grand Prix de France, and has rebounded well from injury earlier this season. And it warrants mention the Nice-based Siao Him Fa has scratched back on this stage before, reaching the podium last year after placing 19th in the short.

The men’s free skate on Saturday will bring more than medals into play. Malinin is expected to attempt a full seven-quad layout, including the quad Axel, and he’ll likely feature his signature backflip – a legal addition to his program for the first time at worlds.

The move hasn’t been landed legally at a world championships in nearly 50 years. The last to do it was American Terry Kubicka in 1976, after which the International Skating Union banned the element for being too dangerous. It returned last June, with the ISU stating: “Somersault-type jumps are very spectacular and nowadays it is not logical anymore to include them as illegal movements.”

Famously, France’s Surya Bonaly defied the ban at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, landing a one-footed backflip in protest. Though penalized, the move became a symbol of resistance and individuality in the sport.

Malinin first debuted the backflip in competition at the Lombardia Trophy in September and has used it as a crowd-pleasing punctuation ever since. “It fits the music really well,” he’s said. “It gets that audience applause, feels really suspenseful, and I really just like doing it.”

While it doesn’t earn points, the flip enhances his performance scores and speaks to his creative flair – something few others in the field can match.

It’s that combination – technical innovation, competitive nerve and choreographic audacity – that’s made Malinin a star. And the crowd seems to be catching on. The lower bowl and much of the upper deck of the 17,850-seat TD Garden were filled for Friday afternoon’s session – an unusually robust crowd for a Thursday afternoon in a sport where weekday sessions often play to half-full arenas. It was a signal that Malinin’s profile is growing, both within the sport and beyond.

Fellow Americans Andrew Torgashev and Jason Brown also delivered solid performances, with Torgashev finishing eighth (87.27) and Brown 12th (84.72) after each posted their highest international scores of the season. But Friday belonged to Malinin. He skated clean, he skated fearless, and on a stage primed for something bigger, he delivered his best.

The first medals of this year’s worlds will be doled out later Thursday with the pairs’ free skate, with Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan leading Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii after Wednesday’s short program.