Tatiana Malinia: “Ilia was inspired by Yuzuru Hanyu. Each time Hanyu made an attempt of quad axel, Ilia cheered for him and wanted him to land it at the Olympics.”
Translation of Tatiana Malinia’s comments about her son Ilia Malinin learning quad axel made in the interview for olympics.com.
original sources: olympics.com dd.7th October by Tatjana Flade
Here’s a translation of Tatiana Malinina’s comments made in the interview for olympics.com.
“Olympics: The past season has been very successful for Ilia.
Tatiana Malinia: Yes, my husband and I are very satisfied with what we’ve accomplished this season. Of course, we all wanted more, or rather, Ilia wanted more. But it doesn’t all come at once.”
Olympics: Ilia competed at the Junior World Championships in 2020 and then, when he started competing again after a 2-year break, he was performing quadruple jumps in his routines. How did you manage to achieve that?
Tatiana Malinia: Besides the downsides during the coronavirus pandemic, there were some positives. The benefits were that we had time for off-ice physical training. During regular school hours, he doesn’t have the opportunity for off-ice training.
Ilia gets up at 6 in the morning, goes to school by 7, and comes back around 12:45. Then he has an on-ice training session for about one and a half to two hours, followed by a break, and another on-ice session for another hour to hour and a half. After that, he needs to go home, as he has online classes and homework to complete. He doesn’t have time for off-ice training.
During the pandemic, he didn’t skate for 3.5 months and used that time to engage intensively in off-ice physical training. These workouts were conducted outdoors because all the training facilities were closed. We asked the homeowners’ association next to us if we could use the tennis court, and they allowed us to do so. We trained there and even had local kids joining us. We divided them into age groups and trained them in running and off-ice training.
Olympics: Was performing a quadruple Axel Ilia’s idea? Did you realize that he would be able to do it?
Tatiana Malinia: Yes, it was his idea, and we knew he could do a quadruple axel. Even when he was working on the triple axel, we saw that he had the right sensations needed to perform more than three and a half revolutions. We relied on that and continued to improve the triple axel. We put a lot of work into it. My husband made a harness, and they practiced the quadruple axel with it. At some point, my husband felt that Ilia was executing the axel by himself, without any help.
We waited until the end of the season for Ilia to try the quadruple on the ice. It’s a serious element, and you can get injured during the landing. There’s substantial pressure on the lower back, hip, knee, and ankle. You don’t know how you’ll land when you haven’t fully mastered the element, so you don’t feel the timing in the air. We waited for the end of the season.
The first time he attempted this jump without the harness, I couldn’t even watch; I was so frightened. In his first attempt, he almost executed the jump. Yuzuru Hanyu was as an inspiration for Ilia. When he saw Hanyu trying the quadruple axel, he became curious to see if he could perform it as well. Each time Hanyu made an attempt, Ilia cheered for him and wanted Hanyu to land it at the Olympics. Later, Ilia also started trying to perform it.
We didn’t expect him to do the quadruple axel in competitions. Usually, it takes a lot of time to transfer from learning an element to including it into your program and performing it in competitions. It was a small surprise for us to see how determined he was in attempting the jump and succeeding. Ilia wanted to show everyone that he could do it, and we’re thrilled for him for accomplishing the goal he set for himself.
Now, he has his mind set on the quintuple jumps, and we’re trying them out using the harness, salchow, and toe loop. I can tell you that they look just like the quadruple axel when we started. There’s a chance that he can do them. However, there are no extra points awarded for performing these elements in competition. So, there’s currently no incentive to include them in his competition programs. Additionally, the program must be balanced. Figure skating isn’t just about jumps; it’s an all-around discipline. But it’s still a sport, and it’s important to strive to develop both artistic performance and challenging elements in figure skating. In my opinion, if it’s a sport, it’s crucial to excel in unique elements, not just skating beautifully.”
Related topics: Ilia Malinin
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