PRAGUE, March 26 (Reuters) – American Ilia Malinin banished the ghosts of his disastrous Olympics on Thursday, skating into the lead after the men’s short programme at the World Championships a month after a shock eighth-place finish in Milan.
The 21-year-old “Quad God” opened with a huge quadruple flip, followed up with a quadruple Lutz, and delighted the crowd with a backflip to record a personal best 111.29 points, putting him on track for a third successive world title.
“I was definitely coming back to prove to myself that (the Olympic result) was a one-time thing,” Malinin said. “But now I realise this is much more than just skating, it’s being able to go and enjoy and have fun.
“Coming here I had no big expectations. It’s been a lot. After the music ended I was relieved and thought ‘it’s done.'”
Adam Siao Him Fa of France heads into Saturday’s free programme in second place with a score of 101.85, and Estonian Aleksandr Selevko is a surprise third with 96.49.
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, the shock Olympic champion in Milan, is not competing at the world championships.
Olympic silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan was sixth on Thursday after a fall on his triple Axel.
Malinin had arrived at the event with redemption in mind after a collapse at the Olympics he said was caused by pressure and the magnitude of the moment.
He had been overwhelming favourite for gold in Milan, but crumbled under the weight of expectations, and his free programme unravelled in stunning fashion.
“It’s nothing specific,” he said, regarding refocusing after the Olympics. “I tell myself that it’s in the past already, it’s over, you have to get up and keep going. Everything happens for a reason.
“As for (Saturday’s) free, we’ll see a programme being finished, that’s for sure.”
Malinin’s short programme score on Thursday was just shy of American Nathan Chen’s world record of 113.97 set in 2022.
The pairs free programme is scheduled for later on Thursday.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Ed Osmond and Christian Radnedge)
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