Ilia Malinin's third world championship a relief. Redemption? Think 2030 | Opinion

Christine Brennan, USA TODAY Sat, March 28, 2026 at 10:17 PM UTC

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PRAGUE — Six weeks and one day after his awful meltdown at the Milan Olympics, Ilia Malinin threw his head back and roared in delight. The judges’ scores would come in a few minutes, but he already knew. He knew he had done it. Five quadruple jumps, no falls, no stumbles, combined with the big lead he already had coming into the long program? There could be no doubt. He would be world champion for the third consecutive time.

The same long program that had become such a devastating disappointment in February for the 21-year-old “Quad God” was bringing him nothing but joy in March. He won the world championship in a skating landslide: his total of 329.40 points was nearly 23 points ahead of Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (306.67), with Shun Sato of Japan a distant third (288.54).

Malinin's first thought? “I felt really relieved.”

In the final event of the grueling 2026 Olympic season, Ilia became Ilia again. But in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY Sports after the competition, he said no matter how thrilled he was with his world championship performance, it does not make up for what happened in Milan.

"They are two different things,” he said. “It’s good that I was able to end the season on a good note and I’m proud of that, but also they’re two completely different competitions in the end, so I think the real redemption will be in 2030 (the next Winter Olympics).”

1 / 0Check out the action from the ISU Figure Skating World Championships

Amber Glenn of the US in action during women's short program at the ISU Figure Skating World Championships in Prague on March 25, 2026.

Since Milan, Malinin said he has been working on changing the way he thinks going into major competitions. The goal coming here was to be able to push aside the massive expectations he had put on himself at the Olympics, in addition to the expectations that everyone else had piled on top of that.

“Absolutely, that is something that I’ve changed, that I definitely will embrace for the next few years. I definitely know that I’ve done so much for the sport and now I feel like I officially have earned what I believe I’ve achieved for the sport, and now all I’ll do is just enjoy myself and use that as leverage for making the sport bigger and better.”

Malinin 'let everything go' in dominant revival at worlds

How specifically did his new thought process manifest itself on the ice in the men’s long program on Saturday, March 28?

“I just let everything go,” Malinin said. “I just had a different mentally in the end, just honestly so different than how I usually approach it. It was just whatever’s whatever, that’s honestly how I approached it, just no expectations, no pressure, just go out and skate.”

As serious as this sounds, Malinin was able to laugh at himself — and his Olympic nightmare — in an on-ice interview discussing his performance here.

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“My expectation was to leave the long program in one piece,” he said, drawing smiles from the crowd, “and I definitely made that happen.”

Several times in various interviews after the event, Malinin mentioned how glad he was that the Olympic skating season was now over. His Japanese counterparts nodded in agreement. Who could blame them? They all had endured the most pressure of their young lives.

All three of them said they will be joining the “Stars on Ice” tour, which is headlined by Olympic stars Alysa Liu, Madison Chock and Evan Bates and Malinin.

So they’re going right from skating to more skating? Yes, but only kind of. The tour is not work, Malinin said.

“It’s entertainment, a nice friendly environment, not high pressure. That’s my relaxation.”

That and listening to music, playing video games and “sleeping throughout the whole day.”

He, his parents (who double as his coaches) and his choreographers will soon begin working on new music, new programs and new costumes for the next skating season.

You could say it’s one year at a time, but for Malinin, there’s a much bigger plan.

“To give yourself a new fresh start for the next four years.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ilia Malinin's straight figure skating world championship brings relief

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