‘Quad God’ Ilia Malinin’s ambitious performance seals US figure skating team gold

But even a B-level performance from Ilia Malinin is better than anyone else in the world.

The Olympic figure skating team event came down to the American Malinin and Shun Sato from Japan — whoever got the higher score in their free skate would win their country the gold medal.

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USA’s Ilia Malinin competes in the figure skating men’s singles free skating team event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on February 8, 2026.AFP via Getty Images
And Malinin acted like a closer to seal the deal.

Malinin, though he slipped once, recorded a score of 200.03 to put the U.S. in the lead, with just Sato and Japan to go.

Sato had a smoother showing, though not as ambitious as Malinin’s. He recorded a score of 194.86, meaning gold for the U.S. — the second of these Olympics for the Americans.

“I was like, ‘OK, I’m the deciding factor,’” Malinin said later, after the U.S. got the medal ceremony it was denied at the Beijing Games, when Russian doping held up their awards for more than two years. “‘I need to just, you know, do what I need to do.’”

The U.S. finished with 69 points, while Japan, which took home the silver medal, finished with 68.

Italy claimed the bronze medal.

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Ilia Malinin of the United States of America performing a jump during the men’s free skate at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.James Lang-Imagn Images
Sunday’s win marked the second straight gold medal in the event for the U.S.

Malinin, the two-time and reigning world champion who is unbeaten in his past 14 full competitions stretching back more than two years, landed five quadruple jumps. Sato recorded three.

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Entering Sunday, the U.S. had a five-point lead over Japan after two days of competition. But the two countries entered a tie when Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the pairs free skate and Kaori Sakamoto won the women’s free skate earlier in the day.

Malinin opened with a big quad flip, opted for a safer triple axel over his quad and overcame a couple of mistakes along the way to finish with aplomb.

The son of Olympic skaters Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov ended with back-to-back combos, a quad toe-triple flip and a quad salchow-triple axel, leaving a crowd full of American and Japanese fans roaring in approval.

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USA’s Ilia Malinin poses with his medal following the podium ceremony of the figure skating team event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Feb. 8, 2026.AFP via Getty Images
“I knew that it was going to be a tiebreaker between the men’s event,” Malinin said, “so I really just went straight into this, and just went for it. It went exactly the way I wanted, the way I planned. And you know, I’m so thankful for that.”

It came a day after an uncharacteristically shaky showing for Malinin in the short program, where he came in second with a score of 98.00.

Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama came in first in the short program, recording a 108.67 score.

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Gold medallists USA’s Madison Chock, USA’s Evan Bates, USA’s Ellie Kam, USA’s Danny O’Shea, USA’s Amber Glenn, USA’s Ilia Malinin pose with their medal following the podium ceremony of the figure skating team event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on February 8, 2026.AFP via Getty Images
“I think I got to buckle down and see what happens and get better next time. We will work it out,” Malinin said Saturday.

Then he declared, “That’s only 50 percent of my full potential there.”

A day later, he was much closer to 100 percent to clinch the gold medal.

The scary part is that he still has another level to reach.