Quadg0d Malinin on new jump limits: "Hasn't really affected me."

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Quadg0d Malinin on new jump limits: "Hasn't really affected me."

A rules change that seemed designed in part to give figure skating mortals a better chance against the Quadg0d, Ilia Malinin, has not affected Malinin as much as he expected.

Removing a jumping pass and a jump combination from the free skate, a change approved in 2024 that went into effect this season, could cost Malinin 20 points or more.

It seemed like the Ilia Malinin rule, even if he had not achieved divine stature when it was adopted.

“I thought that the rule change was definitely going to change everything like drastically,” Malinin said during a Zoom press call Thursday, eight days before he is scheduled to make his season debut at the Skate America Grand Prix event in Everett, Wash.

“But honestly, it hasn't really changed so much. I think the programs look the same, if not even better.”

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Ilia Malinin’s bounce-back world title marks fresh start for Quadg0d

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Ilia Malinin’s bounce-back world title marks fresh start for Quadg0d

The figure skating world is back on its axis.

The Quadg0d realigned it, reclaiming his position as the best men’s singles skater in the world with a performance that was merely excellent rather than otherworldly.

Ilia Malinin won his third straight world title Saturday in Prague by attempting just (?!?!) five quadruple jumps, none of them his singular quad Axel. He landed all five, the last with a slight penalty for being short of four rotations.

With a huge lead from the short program, Malinin knew he did not need to use his full array of quads in the long program, as he had at December’s Grand Prix Final, when he became the first person to land seven – and one of each type. After all, none of the other 23 men tried more than three.

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