MILAN — Ilia Malinin leaned his head back and wagged his tongue. This perhaps wasn’t the start to his Olympic career that he wanted.
The 21-year-old took it easy in the short program of the team figure skating competition Saturday, leaving his signature quad axel, but even with a watered down routine, the man known as the “Quad God” looked shockingly mortal.
He finished second in the short program after struggling on multiple jumps, trailing Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama’s electrifying performance by almost 10 points. The United States still enters the final day of the team competition in first place after Madison Chock and Evan Bates dazzled in the free dance with 133.23 points that earned first place.
The reigning world champions swept both dance programs for the team event to pace the United States to a 44-point team total. They lead second-place Japan (39 points) and third-place Italy (37) before Sunday’s medal event that will feature men’s, women’s and pairs free programs. The United States has not named the skaters who will perform Sunday’s long programs.
Malinin, who earned nine points for his second-place finish in the short program, entered his first Olympic Games as the overwhelming favorite to win individual gold. With unmatched technical skill, it will likely take multiple mistakes from Malinin and perfect performances from his competitors for him not to claim the United States’ second consecutive men’s singles gold medal.
But to become just the second skater to win two gold medals in the same Games, Malinin’s performance fell short of the lofty expectations.
Malinin planned to open with his quad axel in combination with a triple toeloop but settled only for a quad flip. He got a negative grade of execution on his triple axel. He underrotated a quad lutz that he connected to the triple toeloop.
Malinin said he is simply managing his energy to prepare for the individual event, which begins on Tuesday, only two days after the final day of the team competition.
Kagiyama highlighted Japan’s performances Saturday, pumping both fists in the air after his program. As the crowd showered him with applause, he spread his arms out wide and threw his head back. When he looked at his Japanese teammates cheering from the sideline he jumped in the air in excitement. He stood up in shock when his score of 108.67 flashed across the screen.
While Malinin is undefeated in individual events since November 2023, he still has occasionally had to stage comeback wins. He was third after the free program in the Grand Prix Final in December — the last major international competition before the Olympics — and he answered in the free skate by becoming the first person to land seven clean quad jumps in a single program.
With Malinin’s second-place finish, the United States held a one-point lead for the gold medal entering the long programs.
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