MILAN
In a fitting finish, it was Ilia Malinin who received the first gold medal for the U.S. figure skating team Sunday night. After all, he was the one who delivered it.
With the entire competition tied and resting on his final free skate, the American they call the “Quad God” transformed pressure into perfection.
He cleanly landed five quadruple jumps to score 200.03 points, erasing the memory of his uncharacteristically modest short program from the night before.
His performance held off Japanese rival Shun Sato, who followed with a valiant effort and three quads but fell short with 194.86 points.
The victory secured the U.S. team’s successful gold medal defense with 69 points to Japan’s 68.
It was a sweet redemption for the Americans, who finally received an on-podium Olympic medal ceremony after a two-year wait due to the Russian doping scandal at the 2022 Beijing Games.
“I was like, ‘OK, I’m the deciding factor,’” Malinin said. “‘I need to just do what I need to do.’”
By James Kisoo
