Ilia Malinin Admits Continuing This Season Was A Difficult Decision

Ilia Malinin taking a break from skating after the Olympics was a real option this spring, and the Quad God is still going to compete at Skate America 2026 and NHK Trophy in this Grand Prix season. In this figure skating news dispatch, I follow the three-time world champion from the first talk of time away to his own explanation of why he decided to try this year. Watch how a pause that once sounded like half a season or longer shrank to a few weeks of early summer, what his own YouTube vlogs caught in the months that followed, up to a quad Axel attempt at a Sun Valley show practice, and the terms he set for himself in his first interview on the decision. Then I weigh what the series rulebook handed him against what Malinin actually chose, and what Everett and Tokyo now have to show. Timestamps: 00:42 - Olympic Heartbreak 02:14 - How The Grand Prix Rules Placed Him 03:41 - Back On The Ice 05:24 - What Comes Next Sources: International Skating Union https://isu-skating.com/news/202627-i... U.S. Figure Skating https://usfigureskating.org/news/2026... Olympics https://www.olympics.com/en/news/ilia... USA TODAY https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ili... I cover figure skating as it happens. Same host, as Journey of Icons. For business inquiries, contact: contact.joinews@gmail.com © Journey of Icons News