Figure Skating Sensation Ilia Malinin Completes Redemption Arc, Winning His Third Worlds in Prague

21-year-old Ilia Malinin became the first male to win three consecutive singles title at World Championships since Nathan Chen.

Figure Skating Sensation Ilia Malinin Completes Redemption Arc, Winning His Third Worlds in Prague

Ilia Malinin of Team USA became the Men’s singles champion at the World Figure Skating Championships in O2 Arena in Prague (Image via Reuters)

In Short
  • Ilia Malinin won his third consecutive World Championship title in Prague with a near-flawless free skate performance.
  • He became the first male figure skater to achieve three championships in a row since Nathan Chen.
  • Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won gold in ice dance, ending the three-year dominance of Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

Ilia Malinin delivered a near-flawless performance in the free skate on Saturday to win his third straight World Championships in Prague. The flaxen-haired boy, who had an uncharacteristic disappointment in Milano Cortina a month back when he fell twice during his performance to finish sixth in his maiden Olympics, has completed a redemption arc.

Earlier, on Thursday, Malinin recorded a similarly perfect short program, one which put him nine points clear of France’s Adam Siao Him Fa. Malinin was composed in his free skate, a five-quadruple program in which he completed almost all of his prerequisites, except for a quarter under rotation on a quad Lutz, recording a 218.11 to finish with an overall score of 329.40.

Behind him, Yuma Kagiyama, whose minor fluke in the short program had left him in sixth heading into the free skate, delivered one of the marvelous performances to land his fifth career medal in World Championships.

Shun Sato placed bronze, while Siao Him Fa, who was second to Malinin before the free skate, made critical mistakes that dropped him from medal position to fifth. Andrew Torgashev upgraded his 22nd-place finish last year to a 10th-place finish. Jason Sanchez, the third entrant from the USA, finished 12th after a personal best performance in the City of a Hundred Spires.

In Prague, all eyes were on Malinin, who had two falls last month in the Olympics, in the absence of Mikhail Shaidorov. Shaidorov, who won the Olympic gold in February, skipped the World Championships to take some rest after a packed schedule leading up to the Olympics. Malinin did more than he wanted in Prague to remain in one piece after the free skate, redeemed himself, and once again made a new mark in the sport.

The 21-year-old became the first male figure skater to win three championships in a row since Nathan Chen in 2018, 2019, and 2021. He’s only the 14th man to win consecutive three championships.

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron claim the final gold at the Prague Worlds

On Saturday, the curtain dropped on the World Figure Skating Championships 2026 competitions after a nerve-racking free dance to determine the last set of winners. Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, the controversial Olympic gold medalists, rewrote history books to claim gold in Prague.

Piper Gilles Paul Poirier
Paul Poirier and Piper Gilles of Canada have won silver for the third consecutive time at the Worlds (Image via AP Photo)

The pair, who ended the three-year dominance of the American married duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates, had a difference of 19.29 points separating them from the silver medal. This is the biggest winning margin in the history of the World Championships. Paul Poirier and Piper Gilles, the 2026 Olympics bronze medalists, came second, while the US pair Vadym Kolesnik and Emilea Zingas won a bronze in their maiden season.

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who were in the medal place after the rhythm dance on Thursday, dropped a position after an illegal element was deducted from their programme. The British duo fell just twenty-two-hundredths short of the young American pair. Kolesnik and Zingas’ bronze also meant that the United States has at least one medal in ice dance World Champs for the 11th consecutive time.

In the other disciplines, women’s singles, Kaori Sakamoto took home her fourth World Championship in an emotional adieu to the ice. Mone Chiba finished second, followed by Nina Pinzarrone. Amber Glenn, Team USA’s biggest medal hopeful, had a marvelous short program only to lose her footing in the free skate. Isabeau Levito finished fourth.

In the pairs, Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin secured their maiden World Championship title. The pair, skating in their third Worlds, upgraded from silver last year to gold with their personal best ever of 228.33. Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia came second, while Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud of Canada clinched the bronze.

In every discipline apart from ice dance, the Winter Olympics gold medalists took a break.

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