While the Winter Olympics are months away, figure skating competitions are in full swing around the world as athletes continue to train and prepare. The International Skating Union Grand Prix of Figure Skating series is made up of six events that take place around the world. The first of the season was the 2025 Grand Prix de France that took place in Angers, France from Oct. 17-19. 

In Angers, Ilia Malinin made a tremendous impression, winning the Grand Prix de France by a total of 40 points — a runaway victory. In his free skate, he landed a total of five quadruple jumps and finished with an overall score of 321.00. 

Malinin came into the 2025 Grand Prix series with a lot of expectations on him having earned Grand Prix Final victories in 2023 and 2024. He did not disappoint. In fact, the win in France extended his winning streak to almost two years. His last loss was at the ISU Grand Prix competitions in 2023 at the same event. 

Although he is only 20 years old, Malinin has an impressive resume backing up his recent victory in France. He has competed in the last three ISU World Figure Skating Championships with stellar results. In his first championship in 2023, Malinin earned a bronze medal. In the 2024 and the 2025 Figure Skating World Championships, Malinin took the gold. However, even before he was winning championships, Malinin’s career was impressive. His international debut took place in 2019 on the junior circuit, where he won the Philadelphia Summer Championships. 

Malinin was born in Fairfax, Virginia, and he represents the United States in competitions. However, he spent much of his life living in Vienna. Malinin’s parents have been instrumental in his development as a skater as both of them were professional figure skaters as well. Tatiana Malinina was at the top of the sport in the 1990s. She was medaled in both the ISU Championship and the ISU Grand Prix, the first skater representing Uzbekistan to do so. Malinin’s father, Toman Skorniakov, competed at two Winter Olympics. Both parents quickly assumed the role of coach for their son. Since he began figure skating at the age of six, Malinin’s talent has continued to grow and evolve throughout his career. 

Not only does Malinin win championships, he does so with extraordinary talent that has earned him a spot in the history books. In addition to his competition success, Malinin also has phenomenal skating skills. As of 2022, he is the only skater who has landed a quadruple axel in competition, which is an incredibly challenging figure skating jump that involves an astounding four and a half rotations. There are a total of six types of jumps, and axels are considered the hardest, because the skater jumps facing forward but lands back on the ice going backwards. 

As a result of his mastery, Malinin has adopted the nickname “Quad God,” which he has incorporated into his Instagram account ilia_quadg0d_malinin. Based on his past performances, he has lived up to this nickname. On the nickname, in a Oct. 23, 2025 interview with WUSA9 Malinin said, “it is a nickname that I embrace and sometimes it does help me get through you know competitions like yes you are skating and there’s a lot of people watching but you are the Quad God and you know sometimes that helps me just like focus and gives me like a standard to live up to.” 

Given his outstanding competition results and the high degree of difficulty of his performances, Malinin is the favorite heading into the Winter Olympics in 2026. With competitions like the ISU Grand Prix events, Malinin is constantly preparing. In an Oct. 19 article published on the Olympic website, Malinin said, “but as years went on and now starting last year and this year I have a really different approach to it. I really want to try and maximize the just amount that I can revolutionize the sport and really take this to its next level.” 

Like every athlete, Malinin has also faced challenges when it comes to competing. When Malinin was preparing to skate for the 2025 World Championship, he was greatly impacted by an accident involving a passenger jet and an army helicopter that had happened that same week. This accident hit close to home for Malinin as some of the passengers who died were skaters from his club, Washington Figure Skating Club. 

In a New York Times article published March 29, Malinin said, “skating usually helps me handle hard things going on in my life, but it was just too emotional to be there.” According to that same article, Malinin returned to the rink and honed his skills in order to dedicate his skating performance to those who had died in the accident. His hard work and fine-tuning worked, and Malinin skated to victory. 

In light of all his successes, other professionals have taken notice of Malinin’s dominance. For instance, Yuma Kagiyama — who competed against Malinin in the 2025 World Championships and earned silver in the Beijing Olympics — said to the New York Times in that same article, “I’m starting to think he’s invincible.”

Malinin’s talents are truly extraordinary, placing him at the top of the game as he continues to revolutionize the sport. While there are still many competitions and much training to come, Malinin has entered the season in top form, and he is on track to succeed at the 2026 Winter Olympics.