“Taking a year to learn new elements, acquire new qualities, and create unique programs is not a foolish decision at all,” Tatiana Tarasova on Ilia Malinin’s desire to take a break from his skating career
Tatiana Tarasova commented on Ilia Malinin’s desire to take a break from his skating career. original source: [...]
“His words are the musings of an 18-year-old boy. He’s teasing everyone, drawing attention to himself, and are we supposed to gasp and sigh over this?” Ilia Averbukh on Ilia Malinin’s desire to take a break
Ilia Averbukh commented that if Ilia Malinin takes a break from his career, he will miss his chance, suggesting that [...]
“I kind of want a break from skating for a little bit. These last four years have been really tough leading up to the Olympics.” Ilia Malinin shared in an interview with Olympics
Ilia Malinin may take a break from his career. source: Olympics Переглянути цей допис [...]
Irina Rodnina: “You can’t compare me to Ilia. Personally, I never lost a single competition, while he finished eighth at the Olympics.”
Three-time Olympic champion in pairs figure skating Irina Rodnina said she is not comparable to American skater Ilia [...]
Ilia Averbukh: “I think Malinin just needs to draw conclusions from this Olympics and move forward. It’s absolutely foolish to blame the press for his failure.”
Ilia Averbukh stated that Ilia Malinin should not blame the press for his Olympic disappointment, emphasizing that [...]
Tatiana Tarasova: “For Malinin, it was his first Olympics, and it was clear that this was harmful to him. His father doesn’t have experience in these matters yet. His father should have protected him from journalists.”
Tatiana Tarasova supported Ilia Malinin’s claim that media pressure negatively affected his Olympic performance, [...]
“I had to do things I didn’t want to do, just because I was required to. There was a lot of media. They made me do what was good for television.” Ilia Malinin spoke about the intense media pressure he faced at the 2026 Olympics
Three-time world champion Ilia Malinin spoke about the intense media pressure he faced at the 2026 Olympics, [...]
Tatiana Tarasova: “I cannot say that the United States is currently the best in the world in figure skating. You can’t make such a claim when Russian skaters haven’t competed anywhere for four years.”
Tatiana Tarasova stated that the United States cannot be called the best in figure skating while Russian athletes [...]
Alexander Zhulin: “I believe Malinin is 100 percent Russian. All the American men have Russian roots, so a lot becomes clear in this debate.”
Alexander Zhulin stated that American dominance in figure skating is debatable without direct competition against [...]
Evgeni Plushenko: “They sent me a video of the American, super athlete, and genius Ilia Malinin doing three backflips in a row at a show. And that’s a sensation! But my student, Lyuba Rubtsova, did this much earlier.”
Coach and two-time Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko commented on Ilia Malinin’s triple backflip, noting that his [...]
Alexei Mishin: “Ilia doesn’t have the most concise anatomical features, nor the highest jump, but he is incredibly talented.
Alexei Mishin explained the unique technical aspects of Ilia Malinin’s jumps, emphasizing his exceptional talent and [...]
Rafael Arutyunyan: “I can imagine what the challenges of the next four years will be for Malinin, but he cannot quite see them yet. That’s the nature of youth – you feel like you understand everything.”
Rafael Arutyunyan shared his thoughts on the future career of three-time world champion Ilia Malinin, praising his [...]
Tatiana Tarasova: “Kagiyama performed fantastically, because everything started with Ilia. He’s a genius who began doing things no one else has done. Everyone looked at Ilia and realized it’s possible.”
Tatiana Tarasova praised Ilia Malinin’s resilience and historic performance at Worlds, highlighting his ability to [...]
“The proposed changes undermine the essence of figure skating. The ISU should reconsider everything and give all athletes a voice.” Malinin, Kagiyama and Sato on ISU’s proposed rule changes that would eliminate the combined short and free program scoring system
Top male medalists at Worlds voiced concerns over the ISU’s proposed rule changes that would eliminate the combined [...]
“I’m very sad to think that there seems to be a rift between the family and Rafael Arutyunyan – otherwise, I think, the coach would have been sitting in the kiss-and-cry with Ilia.” Journalist Elena Vaitsekhovskaya
Journalist Elena Vaytsekhovskaya reflected on Ilia Malinin’s World Championship win, expressing both happiness for [...]
Ilia Malinin: “Which Worlds gold medal was the hardest to win? Probably the first one because I wanted to fulfill all the expectations I had at my first Worlds. Today, I just felt relief after the Olympic season.”
Ilia Malinin reflects on his third World Championship gold, his exhaustion after the Olympic season, and his hopes to [...]
“He proved himself a true athlete, a hero of his time. I love talented people and his program – I think it’s wonderful.” Tatiana Tarasova on Ilia Malinin
Tatiana Tarasova praised Ilia Malinin’s performance at the World Championships, calling him a true athlete and the [...]
“This was Ilia’s first Olympics, and I believe it won’t be his last. Conclusions have been drawn, and now he is preparing for the World Championships.” Sports agent Zakarian on Malinin’s plans
Ilia Malinin’s agent, Ari Zakarian, spoke about Malinin’s plans. original source: MatchTV [...]
Evgeni Plushenko: “I was very disappointed things didn’t work out for Malinin, but there are reasons. Psychologically, he wasn’t ready for the pressure, the journalists, the interactions – just like I wasn’t in 2002. He lost focus.”
Russian figure skater and now coach Evgeni Plushenko shared his thoughts on the disappointing result of American [...]
Ilia Malinin: “I let fear in and it ruined me. Now, time to get back up. Next step, Redemption. See you in Prague.”
American figure skater Ilia Malinin summed up his performance at the Milan Olympics. original source: Instagram [...]
Carolina Kostner: “For Malinin, it was definitely tough. Getting up after a fall is very personal. But you need to know that a fall doesn’t define your career; in fact, it can help you understand what you want to do more or differently next time.”
Carolina Kostner reflected on Ilia Malinin’s Olympic disappointment, the challenges of being both a parent and [...]
“It’s what I experience every day, being under constant scrutiny and pressure. Not every athlete is able to handle this. Honestly, I don’t think I was ready for it at these Olympic Games.” Ilia Malinin about his Olympic exhibition program
Olympic champion in team event and world champion Ilia Malinin reflected on his exhibition program dedicated to mental [...]
Rafael Arutyunyan: “Ilia is not to blame, and I have already told him this. The fault lies with us, the adults, who failed to protect a young athlete from making wrong decisions.”
Rafael Arutyunyan commented on Ilia Malinin’s underwhelming performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where Malinin [...]
Mikhail Shaidorov: “I told Ilia after his performance that it was incredible to skate on the same ice with him. And he told me that I deserved this victory.”
Kazakh figure skater Mikhail Shaidorov reflected on the unexpected performance of American skater Ilia Malinin at the [...]