Ilia Malinin is making history at the 2026 Winter Olympics: ‘Quad God’?
Ilia Malinin, a 21-year-old Olympic figure skater who has gone undefeated for over two years, lives up to his nickname.
Malinin, dubbed the “Quad God,” helped secure a gold medal for Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Feb. 10. In the winning routine, Malinin landed five quad jumps.
Ilia Malinin is a 21-year-old figure skater from Virginia.His coaches are his parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, who previously skated in the Olympics for Uzbekistan.
In an interview with TODAY’s Craig Melvin ahead of the Olympics, Malinin said his mom doesn’t watch his competitions live.
“My mom won’t watch in person. She won’t watch over TV. She waits for my dad to give her the phone call that (it’s) finished, and then he tells her what happened. And then after a few days, that’s when she goes and watches it,” Malinin explained.
https://youtu.be/5T1s9S3mpvY?si=I4rysN52bIZITBJA
Malinin is called the “Quad God” for his ability to incorporate quadruple jumps into his routines. A quadruple jump is when a skater completes four revolutions in the air before landing. The quadruple Axel, an even more difficult move, requires four-and-a-half revolutions.
In 2022, at 17, Malinin became the first skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition. The feat took place at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in Lake Placid.
Malinin set a new world record in the 2025 Grand Prix Finals, becoming the first skater to ever land seven quadruple jumps in a single program.
Malinin addressed why he is referred to as the “Quad God” in an advertisement with Google.
“I got that nickname because I’m the first person to land a quad Axel, not because my quads are massive,” he said in the video.
No skater has ever landed the quadruple Axel at the Games, per Olympics.com. Malinin has not attempted to break that record — yet.
He already made history by completing the first Olympic backflip since 1976.
While Malinin’s backflip was celebrated, the move has a controversial history. The backflip was banned by the International Skating Union (ISU) from 1977 until 2024. French figureskater Surya Bonaly chose to do it anyway in 1998 — landing on just one leg. She was penalized by judges.
