Ilia Malinin Wins U.S. Title to Close Out U.S. Championships

Ilia Malinin captured his first title Sunday at the 2023 U.S. Toyota Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California.
 
After a spectacular short program on Friday, the self-proclaimed 'quadg0d' agreed that the Malinin era had started, and despite a rocky performance in the free skate, the 18-year-old was absolutely correct.
 
"Of course, this wasn't the skate that I wanted. I was really looking forward to having a good skate and trying to show what I have been working on these past couple of years," said Malinin. "There's always ups and down and you just have to get over it and look forward to the next thing. Looking back at this competition, I am going to see what I need to work on a bit more so that I can prepare a lot better for Worlds."
 
After becoming the first man to land a quadruple Axel at the U.S. International Classic earlier this season, lofty expectations had been placed onto the gold medalist's shoulders. Malinin connected on the jump at Skate America in October and again at the Grand Prix Final last month, so it was expected that he would make it happen again here in San Jose. Despite a credible attempt, he was unable to hold the landing and fell to the ice in his "Euphoria" (Labyrinth) free skate this afternoon.
 
"When I was getting on the ice I wasn't feeling as motivated and didn't have that much energy to be able to put it out there today," he said of his performance. "I think I was a little bit sluggish back there and I just wasn't very prepared for what was going happen. I think that's okay. I was still trying to be in that moment just so that everything else wouldn't be so tough. Overall, it was a very fun experience — the crowd is the best. They always cheer me on."
 
Malinin connected on three different quadruple jumps in the program — landing a flip, Salchow and a Lutz.  Unfortunately, he popped a second Lutz attempt and a toe loop into doubles, which resulted in a late program triple Lutz-triple Axel-triple toe loop combination that he added on the fly.
 
The champion finished the day with the third-best free skate, earning 177.38 points, but held on to the top spot in the competition with a total of 287.74 points.
 
Two-time Olympian Jason Brown, who competed in San Jose for the first time since the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, finished with the silver medal to stand on the podium at the U.S. Championships (senior) for the eighth time.
 
"I love performing. I love competing. And I hope it showed today," Brown said after the competition.
 
Skating an emotionally charged program to Josh Groban's "The Impossible Dream," Brown came to San Jose in part to erase the memories that he created in this same arena five seasons ago. The 2015 U.S. champion had hoped to earn a place on the 2018 Winter Olympic team but fell short and finished in sixth place.
 
It's safe to say that the 28-year-old erased those memories and replaced them with a new one that includes a glorious free skate performance. For the first three minutes and 30 seconds of the program, Brown was perfection. The silver medalist landed seven triple jumps, including two triple Axels and three Level Four elements. But in the last moments, Brown fell on a triple flip and had to readjust his closing spin.
 
"I competed here five years ago and had a really, really rough experience," he recalled. "For five years it traumatized me and kept me up at night. I close my eyes and kind of relive that moment again and again and again, so just getting back onto the ice — this is a Nationals that I chose to come to. I didn't have to compete this year — there was no one telling me to compete. My career, in a lot of ways, had come to an end, and this was kind of my choice to get back out there and have the courage to come back into the rink and perform again and kind of rewrite my story, so that's what I am most proud of."
 
Brown earned 177.06 points in the free skate and a total of 277.31 points in the competition to become the oldest male singles skater to finish in the top three at a U.S. Championships since 2014.
 
Andrew Torgashev moved up from fifth place to collect the bronze medal with a captivating performance that earned the top marks in the free skate event. This competition marked the 21-year-old's return to the national stage after injuries kept him at bay for the last two seasons.
 
Fifth in this competition in 2020, Torgashev opened with a solid quadruple toe loop before unleashing a torrent of eight textbook triple jumps in his "Fortuna X" (Enigma) free skate. The bronze medalist received Level Fours on two of his spins and Level Threes on his step sequence and closing combination spin.
 
"It's a little unbelievable," Torgashev admitted. "It's weird because I do this every day. It's gotten better over the last eight weeks. We've been training so hard. I've tried to dedicate all of myself to coming into the rink, doing my best and improving 1% every day. It's not a surprise that I skated this way. In fact, some of the things could have been even better. But to do it on this stage after so much time is unbelievable. I am still in awe."
 
Earning his first senior U.S. Championships medal, Torgashev finished the free skate with a personal best 177.78 points and earned a total score of 256.56 points.
 
Maxim Naumov, the 2020 U.S. junior champion, climbed up from sixth place after the short program to claim the last spot on the podium and his first at the senior level. The pewter medalist landed two quadruple jumps and five triples in his "Iron" by Woodkid and "Loyal" by ODESZA free skate.
 
"That was great. I can't lie — that was better than what I expected," he said. "I was prepared to go out there and make it happen and that's exactly what I did. I completed my job for exactly what I wanted to do today. One small mistake which I am going to keep working on for sure, but I am definitely super happy with what I did today."
 
Naumov earned new personal bests in both the free skate with 17.43 points and total with 249.14 points.