US figure skating star Ilia Malinin is set to compete a the pre-Winter Olympic season kicks off this Friday with the opening leg of the six-event ISU Grand Prix series at Skate America in Texas.
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Pre-Winter Olympic Spotlight: Sakamoto and Malinin
Japan’s three-time women’s world champion, Kaori Sakamoto, will take center stage the following week at Skate Canada in Halifax, where Malinin will also compete. Malinin captured his first world title last season with a stunning quadruple jump free skate in Montreal, finishing over 20 points ahead of his competitors. The 19-year-old, nicknamed the Quad God, is now the pre-winter Olympic favorite following the retirement of two-time world champion and three-time winter Olympic medalist Uno Shoma from Japan.
I always have that mindset where I want to get better and better Malinin stated, as he aims for a third consecutive Skate America gold. He warmed up at the Lombardia Trophy last month in Italy, winning gold again by more than 20 points over Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama. The gap with Ilia something I felt last season, said three-time world silver medalist Kagiyama. This season, I want to close that gap and even surpass him, added the two-time winter Olympic silver medalist.
Winter Olympic Aspirations: Sakamoto and Kagiyama
Sakamoto, 24, had a rocky start to the season at the Lombardia Trophy, finishing third, but insisted. If I keep working hard, the confidence will come. Sakamoto and Kagiyama’s Winter Olympic ambitions were boosted when they finally received their silver medals for the team competition at the Beijing 2022 Games during a ceremony at the 2024 Paris winter Olympic Games.
Figure Skating from the United States and Japan received their medals after Russia was downgraded from gold to bronze due to Kamila Valieva’s four-year doping ban. The moment I got a medal after waiting for two-and-a-half years made me want to win another one in Mila even more said Sakamoto, who also took the women’s bronze behind closed doors at the Covid-hit Beijing Games.

American Isabeto Levito won silver behind Sakamoto at the world championships last year. She is looking to improve on her runner-up finishes in the last two events while Japan’s Rinka Watanabe also hopes to medal.
Winter Olympic Figure Skating America: Competition Schedule
In the doubles competition, Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, the 2023 world champions, begin their campaign in Skating America. The two-time world champions will kick off their season at the winter Olympic Figure Skating America Games. Winter Olympic Figure Skating America opens Friday with short sessions for men and women. The rhythm dance begins Saturday, followed by the pairs free relay.
the men’s short program and the women’s free relay. The competition concludes on Sunday with the men’s free Skating and the free dance. You can read Sasha Cohen on U.S. Women’s Winter Olympic Figure Skating Medal Drought Since 2006.
Winter Olympic Figure Skating at Milano Cortina 2026
The riders will compete in two of six events with the top six riders in each category qualifying for the French Grand Prix from December 5-8. The World Championships in Boston from March 25-30 will also decide your chances at the winter Olympic.
The figure skating competition at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will see 142 of the best skaters in the world compete for glory at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan.
Milano Cortina 2026 will once again include five figure skating events: men’s and women’s singles, ice dance, pairs and the team event.

History of Figure Skating in the winter Olympic
Figure skating is one of the oldest sports on the Olympic Winter Games programme. In fact, it dates back to before the Olympic Winter Games themselves, a figure skating competition held at both the Olympic Games of London 1908 and Antwerp 1920.
The list of Olympic figure skating legends ranges from Sweden’s Gillis Grafström, the first to win three gold medals, to more recent stars such as Japan’s Hanyu Yuzuru.
In recent years, the USA’s Ilia Malinin became the first (and so far only) male or female skater to successfully land the quadruple Axel in competition, while Japan’s Sakamoto Kaori also made history by completing an undefeated season.
Winter Olympic Qualification for Figure Skating
Now it’s their time to attempt to secure a quota for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games. Find out everything you need to know about the Olympic qualification system in figure skating, including the number of athletes in each event and the qualification timeline.
Kaori Sakamoto, who was the champion in the mixed doubles, earned her first victory in the men’s race for ng ‘football competition for men’s football and football. Sakamoto scored 148.35 points in the free skate, compared to 225.70 points in the indoor skating competition last season. The 23-year-old from Kobe, Japan, withdrew from his race for the third time but had a clear plan.
Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx took second place with a score of 203.36, finishing just 0.20 points ahead of Japan’s Hana Yoshida, who was third after starting the previous day’s preliminary session in second place for the free skate.

Sakamoto and Malinin Shine in Recent Competitions
Sakamoto, also a gold medalist at the Beijing 2022 winter Olympics, was the leader in the short program and the preliminary race. I’m very happy Sakamoto said. My rival is the same person I used to. I could have done better. I want to show myself that I did a great job. Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone, who was third after the short event, finished fourth with a score of 194.91.
In the men’s event, Malinin won the senior title for the first time with a score of 314.66, third-best in the world. The 19-year-old American compiled a 207.76 in the free after falling over her opening shot, but came back down and hit five cleans en route to he stayed.
The top three were unchange from the preliminaries, with Shoma Uno finishing second with a score of 297.34 and Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama finishing third with a score of 288.65. Uno coach Stephane Lambiel says he is please with how well Uno performed in the second half of his free program.
The score is important, but I believe it’s important that the person next to me is happy with my performance,” Uno said, referring to Lambiel. I gave it everything I had. The Grand Prix races are only allowed to played by cyclists who ride six-wheeled bikes.

Ilia Malinin: Innovating on Ice
After winning the World Championships last year, American soccer player Ilia Malinin is trying to change his game on the field.
No, this isn’t another article about how the 19-year-old is stepping up his free skate, although he plans to do just that – if not surprisingly, as he’s taking things personally.
The main reason I decided to add it just a character I wanted to learn to cut so I could it on the show when I heard that… they accepted cutting to get into regular sports,” said Malinin, who praises the brainchild. about her ease of learning the trick of the challenge, in the newspapers ahead of this week’s Skate America competition.
From there, I just came up with the idea that maybe I’ll add it to my routine, too. I’m thinking of ways I can actually add to it as well in the future, he added later. Like, adding eggs or other spices to the body. But perhaps, more importantly, Malinin is trying to turn the script (pun very much intended) on his athleticism.
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