Ilia Malinin after his skate at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships on March 28, 2026 in Prague. Jurij Kodrun - International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty Images

Ilia Malinin is back on the top of the podium.

Six weeks after a disastrous skate led to the Olympic gold-medal favorite placing eighth in Milan, the "quad god" reeled off one huge jump after another, and a backflip for good measure, to retain his world championship title for the third year running.

Malinin shouted and punched the air with relief after finishing the skate. He also threw his hands up in the air after his score was read out.

Malinin praised the crowd's support, saying: "It was really challenging, really hard but with you guys I was able to make it through." His aim, he added, had simply been to get through the free skate "in one piece."

Malinin previously told CBS News that he didn't want to dwell on his disappointing Olympic performance.

"Everything happens for a reason," the 21-year-old told CBS News in February. He said he has to believe that "you learn a lot more from failure than you do winning."

Malinin is the first skater to win three consecutive men's world titles since fellow American Nathan Chen, who achieved the feat in 2018, 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Skating last after leading the short program, just as he did in Milan, Malinin landed five high-scoring quadruple jumps but not his pioneering quad axel, a jump he didn't attempt at the Olympics.

Malinin scored 218.11 in the free skate for a total 329.40, far ahead of silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan on 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was third on 288.54.

Kagiyama beat his personal-best free skate score but still had to make do with a fourth career world championship silver in a career which includes four Olympic silvers and five total worlds medals, but no gold from either event. He embraced Malinin after his skate and they jumped together in celebration.

In a showcase of top-level skating, there was no podium spot for France's Adam Siao Him Fa, who had been in second after the short program but dropped to fifth overall after a fall. Estonia's Aleksandr Selevko also dropped from third to sixth.

Malinin had no rematch with Mikhail Shaidorov, the skater from Kazakhstan who won the Olympic gold, because Shaidorov opted against competing again this season. That's a relatively common decision for figure skating gold medal winners, who face a rush of media and commercial opportunities after a grueling four-year Olympic buildup.

The last competition of the championships is the free dance portion of the ice dance event later Saturday. France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron are in the lead after Friday's rhythm dance.

Malinin told CBS News in February that he looks forward to continuing to push the boundaries of his sport.

"I think I would be much better to be known as "Quad God," as you say, rather than winning gold medal," Malinin said.


Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, Ilia Malinin and Japan's Shun Sato celebrate with their medals at the 2026 ISU Figure Skating World Championships in Prague on March 28, 2026. Michal Cizek /AFP via Getty Images

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