Ilia Malinin Wins Fourth Skate America Title in Season Opener
Three-time world champion Ilia Malinin won Skate America for a fourth time on Saturday, opening his new season with victory in Everett, Washington, in his first competition since March.
The American totalled 284.31 points at the Angel of the Winds Arena, finishing 9.58 points clear of Daniel Grassl of Italy. Reuters reported that Malinin topped Friday’s short programme and placed second in Saturday’s free skate to secure the title.
It was a measured return rather than a statement of dominance. Malinin attempted six quadruple jumps across his two programmes and landed three cleanly, a lower hit rate than usual for a skater whose jumping has long set him apart. He did not attempt the quadruple Axel, the jump he landed to win his first Skate America title in 2022, the first ever in Grand Prix competition.
Instead, the performance was built around artistry. His free skate, set to “Blue Eye Samurai”, scored 187.57 points and included his signature backflip. Grassl edged him in the free skate by 0.68 points, but Malinin’s lead from the short programme was enough to hold on.
A different kind of win
Malinin said afterwards that he had approached the event with a different mindset from the one that carried him through his unbeaten run before the Winter Olympics.
“Before, I always felt like I was always in this weird, awkward zone of trying to be perfect,” he said. “But now I really just was able to skate out there just for myself being able to enjoy everything.”
He added that simply reaching the finish had been his main concern. “The biggest hurdle for me coming into the competition was getting to the end in one piece,” he said. “I feel really good for how it feels for the beginning of the season.”
The result leaves him one short of the record for the most men’s titles in Skate America history. Malinin finished eighth at the Winter Olympics in February, ending a 14-event winning streak, but NBC Sports reported that he has now won eight Grand Prix events in a row dating back to 2023.
The rest of the podium
Tamir Kuperman of Israel finished third, making the podium in his senior Grand Prix debut. Two-time United States Olympian Jason Brown was fourth in his first competition since placing eighth at January’s national championships, matching his best Grand Prix result in five years. Donovan Carrillo of Mexico was fifth, in one of the best results for his country in a top-level international winter sport competition.
In the pairs, world champions Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany won the title in their season debut. Americans Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov were second, ahead of compatriots Katie McBeath and Balazs Nagy in third. Skate America finishes on Sunday with the free dance and the women’s free skate.
What comes next
Malinin competes again in two weeks at the NHK Trophy in Japan, where a finish anywhere on the podium will likely send him to December’s Grand Prix Final in China. He has won that six-skater event in each of the last three years.
There is work to do. His total from Everett ranks him fourth in the world this season, and his jumping was short of its usual standard. But the title, his fourth at this event, keeps his Grand Prix winning run alive and puts him on course for another final.
It was also a strong weekend for American sport. Arch Manning’s last-second touchdown lifted Texas past LSU 22-21, Wales stunned the All Blacks 35-28 in Cardiff to end a 73-year wait, and No. 22 UCLA stunned No. 5 Arizona 84-75 in its college basketball season opener.
How many Skate America titles has Ilia Malinin won?
Four. He won the event in 2022, when he landed the first quadruple Axel in Grand Prix history, and has now added further titles, most recently in Everett in November 2026.
What was Malinin’s winning score?
He totalled 284.31 points, beating Italy’s Daniel Grassl by 9.58 points. He won the short programme and finished second in the free skate, where Grassl beat him by 0.68 points.
What is next for Malinin?
The NHK Trophy in Japan in two weeks. A podium finish there will likely qualify him for December’s Grand Prix Final in China, an event he has won in each of the last three years.
