Four years on from an Olympic snub, United States figure skater Ilia Malinin has revolutionized his sport in a meteoric rise that has him poised for gold — and stardom — at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games.

The 21-year-old, who dubbed himself "Quad God" long before his array of quadruple jumps carried him to new territory on the ice, has more than grown into the moniker.

Unbeaten over the past two years, Malinin arrives in Milan as the two-time reigning world champion and winner of the past three Grand Prix Finals.

He unleashed an unprecedented seven quadruple jumps in his free skate at the 2025 Grand Prix Final in December — a dazzling performance that underscored just how far ahead of the competition he is.

Malinin admits that being in constant competition with himself can be draining.

"The truth is, sometimes it can feel lonely, because you're the one who has to take control, be in charge, set the stone to find that path," Malinin said.

"But, it's also an opportunity to inspire others, so that everyone can follow in your footprints."

Malinin was born in Virginia to a figure skating family. His parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, both represented Uzbekistan at the Olympics.

Skating coaches themselves, Malinina and Skorniakov tried to steer him away from the sport, but a six-year-old Ilia had other ideas.

"We wanted him to experience a different life than we had," Malinina said in an interview with the International Skating Union.

"We waited until he was already six-and-a-half, when he constantly asked us, 'can I go on the ice? Can I go on the ice?'

"And then, finally, we decided, OK, let's just do that for fun."

But, Skorniakov said, the youngster soon progressed to self-choreographed programs, pushing to expand his skills.

"He tried to learn different things, and, so, it then ended up as this," he said.

Malinin burst onto the senior figure skating scene with a runner-up finish at the 2022 US Championships, but American selectors passed over the 17-year-old in favor of more experienced skaters for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Eight months later, he became the first to land a fully rotated quadruple axel in competition at the US International Classic.

The axel is the jewel of Malinin's quadruple repertoire, its forward takeoff requiring four-and-a-half rotations to complete.

But Malinin has them all, winning his second straight world title last March with a free skate in which he became the first to land a quadruple version of all six jumps: axel, salchow, lutz, flip, loop and toe loop.

"It's like he undoes gravity," said 1998 Olympic women's gold medalist and NBC commentator Tara Lipinski.

The crowd-pleasing backflip that Malinin includes doesn't even count in the technical scores, but the risky move adds flair, as he continues to hone a freewheeling artistic style.

"It's not just his jumps, but I feel like his skating and his artistry, his expression, is getting better year by year," Japanese rival Yuma Kagiyama said.

Malinin will arrive in Milan poised not only for gold, but for crossover stardom. He has already been featured in Vanity Fair, his mop of blond hair only partially tamed for moody photos in designer clothes.

Hailed by the magazine as the "Next Face of Figure Skating," Malinin embraces the role.

While the Olympics are figure skating's ultimate stage, Malinin has spoken of capturing gold not as an end, but as a springboard to further expanding the boundaries of the sport.

A quintuple jump in competition is on the post-Milan horizon.

"It's in the works," he said in December. "It's there, but after the Olympics, that's when I want to give most of my attention to landing the quint for the public."

AFP