Ilia Malinin was the most spoken-about athlete of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and continues to be so.
This US 21-year-old skater, son of a skating champion couple is an absolute ruler. He calls himself “Quadgod” and won almost every prize in the last two years’ competitions. He is actually the only skater who can make a quadruple axel jump and can do a backflip during a professional contest.
Despite his amazing and spectacular background, he is human. While everyone took for granted he would have won these Olympics, he failed as a single male figure skater and only ranked as 8th.
He had felt too much pressure for his young age from insiders’ and social networks’ expectations, many say. Such pressure made him fall during his main contest, although his contribution was essential to grant his team the gold medal for the Team Event contest.
A different attitude characterized his presence for the closing ice skating gala of 21 February. He stepped on the ice rink wearing eye-catching, highly distressed motorcycle-style oversize black jeans by Balmain and a grey hooded sweatshirt, rather than glossy super-stretch uniforms.
Flawless quadruple jumps, unique acrobatics, an unforgettable backflip, and a superb interpretation danced to the sound of NF rapper’s Fear song left everyone speechless while hitting the chord of personal achievement rather than competition’s pressure
While wearing the perfect uniform, this Olympics’ hero found his redemption and launched a new fashion statement that tastes of resilience. His performance became even stronger as the special made-in-Japan jeans became the next new must-have, despite now being sold for about €950, according to some media, and €495 on Farfetch…These are all good premises that can set the next trend in the denim market looking for resurgence, too.
