Shock: Malinin’s score was nearly 40 points lower than his season’s best — yet it was still enough to defeat Shun Sato at the Milan Cortina Games.

Under the crushing pressure of the Olympic stage, Ilia Malinin didn’t deliver his highest-scoring performance of the season. The final tally fell almost 40 points short of his personal best — a gap large enough to spark immediate speculation. Critics questioned whether the so-called “Quad God” had peaked too early. But when the standings were finalized, one fact remained undeniable: Malinin was still on top.

Even without a record-breaking score, his routine carried enough technical firepower and composure to edge out Shun Sato in a tense showdown. It was a reminder that greatness isn’t always about perfection — sometimes it’s about winning when you’re not at your absolute best. The question now lingers: was this a temporary dip… or a calculated step in a much bigger Olympic plan?

The U.S. figure skater has silenced any doubters of the self-styled “Quad God” in Milan.

MILAN (AP) — Ilia Malinin silenced any doubters of the self-styled “Quad God” on Tuesday night, when the American wunderkind threw down a near-perfect short program filled with high-flying jumps and a jaw-dropping backflip to take a big lead at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

The two-time reigning world champion was rewarded with 108.16 points for his program, set to music from the action-adventure video game “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.” Yuma Kagiyama of Japan was second with 103.07 points, but that five-point difference going into the free skate is enormous given the huge technical advantage Malinin has over a longer program.

Team USA figure skater Ilia Malinin does a backflip in the men's short program at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Tuesday.

Team USA figure skater Ilia Malinin does a backflip in the men’s short program at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Tuesday.

Qian Jun/MB Media via Getty Images

Adam Siao Him Fa of France, the last skater to beat Malinin more than two years ago, was third with 102.55 points.

Malinin was beaten by Kagiyama in the short program during the team competition last weekend, leaving many to wonder whether the overwhelming favorite for Olympic gold was letting the pressure get to him. But he bounced back in the free skate to beat Japan’s Shun Sato in a head-to-head battle, clinching a second straight gold for the U.S. and giving him a boost of momentum.

He carried it into Tuesday night at the Milan Ice Skating Arena.

Malinin opened with a big quad flip, landed a perfect triple axel — perhaps he is saving the quad axel that only he has ever landed for the free skate — and a quad lutz-triple toe loop combination that scored more than 22 points by itself.

By the time he landed the backflip and his signature “raspberry twist,” the crowd was ready to launch from its feet in applause.

America's Ilia Malinin competes in Milan on Tuesday. The two-time reigning world champion was rewarded with 108.16 points for his program. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

America’s Ilia Malinin competes in Milan on Tuesday. The two-time reigning world champion was rewarded with 108.16 points for his program. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Stephanie Scarbrough via Associated Press

Kagiyama was the only skater remaining, and he nearly matched Malinin with a splendid program of his own. But on his final jump, the triple axel, the reigning silver medalist had to step out and that cost him some valuable points in the grade of execution.

Both of them will have a couple of days to think about their decisive free skate. It doesn’t happen until Friday night.

The opening night of men’s figure skating packed a little bit of everything.

There was the cheeky fun of a “Minions” program by Spanish skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate, who was worried last week that he wouldn’t get to perform it because of a copyright issue. There was the artistry of the Japanese skaters, the high-flying aerial acrobatics of the American contingent, and one of the most emotional moments of the entire Winter Games.

U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov, whose parents Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were killed in a plane crash just over a year ago, fulfilled a dream they had shared by performing on Olympic ice. When his program drew to an end, Naumov stayed on his knees the middle of the rink, looking up to the heavens and telling them, “Look at what we’ve done.”

“Whatever life throws at you, if you can be resilient and push a little bit more than you think, you can do so much more,” said Naumov, who carried a picture of his parents to the kiss-and-cry, and whose score of 85.65 easily got him through to the free skate.

“You have to have that willpower and do things you love,” he said, “and that’s exactly what I am going to do.”

Team USA's Maxim Naumov reacts after performing in the men's short program at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Tuesday. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images)

Team USA’s Maxim Naumov reacts after performing in the men’s short program at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Tuesday. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images)

Tim Clayton via Getty Images

The podium fight among the real contenders began with Kao Miura, the former world junior champion. But the Four Continents winner last month popped his opening quad salchow, fell on a later jump and never really recovered.

Sato, the second of Japan’s powerhouse trio, made a mistake of his own when he spun out of the second half of a quad toe-triple toe combo. He got through the rest of the program but scored just 88.70 points, leaving him well out of contention.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics