At 18 years old, Ilia Malinin already has reached immortality in figure skating for technical achievement, being the first to land a quadruple Axel jump in competition.
The self-styled âQuadg0dâ already has shown the chutzpah (or hubris?) to go for the most technically difficult free skate program ever attempted at the world championships, including that quad Axel, the hardest jump anyone has tried.
It helped bring U.S. champion Malinin the world bronze medal Saturday in Saitama, Japan, where he made more history as the first to land the quad Axel at worlds.
But it already had him thinking that the way to reach the tops of both the worlds and Olympus might be to acknowledge his mortal limits.
Yes, if Malinin (288.44 points) had cleanly landed all six quads he did instead of going clean on just three of the six, it would have closed or even overcome the gap between him and repeat champion Shoma Uno of Japan (301.14) and surprise silver medalist Cha Jun-Hwan (296.03), the first South Korean man to win a world medal.
Thatâs a big if, as no one ever has done six clean quads in a free skate.
And the energy needed for those quads, physical and mental, hurts Malininâs chances of closing another big gap with the world leaders: the difference in their âartisticâ marks, known as component scores.
Malininâs technical scores led the field in both the short program and free skate. But his component scores were lower than at last yearâs worlds, when he finished ninth, and they ranked 10th in the short program and 11th in the free this time. Uno had an 18.44-point overall advantage over Malinin in PCS, Cha a 13.47 advantage.
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As usual in figure skating, some of the PCS difference owes to the idea of paying your dues. After all, at his first world championships, eventual Olympic champion Nathan Chen had PCS scores only slightly better than Malininâs, and Chenâs numbers improved substantially by the next season.
But credit Malinin for quickly grasping the reality that his current skating has a lot of rough edges on the performance side.
âIâve noticed that itâs really hard to go for a lot of risks,â he said in answer to a press conference question about what he had learned from this competition. âSometimes going for the risks you get really good rewards, but I think that maybe sometimes itâs OK to lower the risks and go for a lot cleaner skate. I think it will be beneficial next season to lower the standards a bit.â
So could it be âbeen-there, done-thatâ with the quad Axel? (and the talk of quints and quad-quad combinations?)
Saturdayâs was his fourth clean quad Axel in seven attempts this season, but it got substantially the lowest grade of execution (0.36) of the four with positive marks. It was his opening jump in the four-minute free, and, after a stopped-in-your tracks landing, his next two quads, flip and Lutz, were both badly flawed.
And there were still some three minutes to go.
Malinin did not directly answer about letting the quad Axel go now that he has definitively proved he can do it. What he did say could be seen as hinting at it.
âWith the whole components factor ⌠itâs probably because you know, after doing a lot of these jumps, (which) are difficult jumps, itâs really hard to try to perform for the audience,â he said.
âEven though some people might enjoy jumping, and itâs one of the things I enjoy, but I also like to perform to the audience. So I think next season, I would really want to focus on this performing side.â
Chen had told me essentially the same thing for a 2017 Ice Network story (reposted last year by NBCOlympics.com) about his several years of ballet training. He regretted not being able to show that training more because of the program-consuming athletic demands that come with being an elite figure skater.
âWhen I watch my skating when I was younger, I definitely see all this balletic movement and this artistry come through,â Chen said then. âWhen I watch my artistry now, itâs like, âYes, itâs still there,â but at the same time, Iâm so focused on the jumps, it takes away from it.â
The artistry can still be developed and displayed, as Chen showed and as prolific and proficient quad jumpers like Uno and the now retired two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan have proved.
For another perspective on how hard it is to combine both, look at the difficulty it posed for the consummate performer, Jason Brown, who had the highest PCS scores while finishing a strong fifth (280.84).
Since Brown dropped his Sisyphean attempts to do a clean quad after 26 tries (20 in a free skate), the last at the 2022 U.S. Championships, he has received the two highest international free skate scores of his career, at the 2022 Olympics and this world meet.
It meant Brownâs coming to terms with his limitations and the fact that in the sportâs current iteration, his lack of quads gives him little chance of winning a global championship medal. What he did instead was give people the chance to see the beauty of his blade work, his striking movement, his expressiveness.
He has, at 28, become an audience favorite more than ever. And the judges Saturday gave Brown six maximum PCS scores (10.0.)
âIâm so happy about todayâs performance,â Brown told media in the mixed zone. âI did my best to go out there and skate my skate. And thatâs what I did.â
The quadg0d is realizing that he, too, must accept limitations if he wants to achieve his goals. Ilia Malinin canât simply jump his way onto the highest steps of the most prized podiums.
Philip Hersh, who has covered figure skating at the last 12 Winter Olympics, is a special contributor to NBCSports.com.
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