Ilia Malinin repeats as U.S. figure skating champion
Ilia Malinin repeated as U.S. figure skating champion, landing his trademark quadruple Axel while erring on three other jumps in his free skate.
Malinin, a 19-year-old nicknamed "Quadg0d" for his quadruple jump mastery, totaled 294.35 points with five quads between Friday's short program and Sunday's free skate in Columbus, Ohio.
He prevailed by 29.85 points over two-time Olympian Jason Brown.
Camden Pulkinen took bronze and will likely round out the three-man team for March's world championships in Montreal.
FIGURE SKATING NATIONALS: Results
Malinin took bronze at last year's worlds and ranks No. 1 in the world so far this season. He can become the third-youngest U.S. man to win a world title after Chen and Dick Button.
Last season, Malinin became the first skater to land a clean, fully rotated quad Axel in competition. Earlier this season, he landed his first quad loop, becoming the first skater to land all six different types of quads over a career.
Malinin has talked about possibly going for more history in future competitions, such as the first quintuple jump or the first single program with all six different types of quads.
The figure skating season continues this week with the Four Continents Championships, live on Peacock. A broadcast schedule is here.
