The self-anointed “Quad God” takes the ice on Saturday.
Ilia Malinin, 20, is heavily-favored to win gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics thanks to his ability to land the quad axel, a jump once thought unattainable in the sport. He first landed the quadruple axel three years when he was 17 years old, just months after Beijing Olympics.
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do on the ice,” bronze medal skater Adam Rippon said at the time.
Malinin dubbed himself the “Quad God” because of his ability to land such jumps.
In the 2024 Grand Prix final, he became the first skater to land a quad in all six figure skating jumps. At the 2025 iteration of the event in December, Malinin became the first to land seven quadruple jumps in one program.
“I named myself that because I landed one quad jump, and then I just changed my username [on social media] to Quad God,” Malinin has said. “I didn’t think about it much, and everyone was telling me: ‘Why did you change your name? You only landed one quad jump.’ And from that moment, I kind of thought, ‘What if I do become the Quad God?’ From there, that’s when that whole thing started of me trying to land every single quad jump.”
Here’s everything to know ahead of Malinin’s Olympic events and how you can watch him in action:
Ilia Malinin’s Milan Cortina Olympic events
Malinin will compete in the men’s singles events in Milan Cortina: short program and free skate.
Ilia Malinin’s Milan Cortina Olympics schedule
See the events Malinin will compete in here:
- Men’s single skating – short program: Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT (Peacock)
- Men’s single skating – free skate: Friday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT (Peacock)
How to watch Ilia Malinin at the Milan Cortina Olympics
Viewers can watch both of Malinin’s events on the USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
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