Overview
- The 20-year-old American has not lost in about two years, adding a fourth straight U.S. title in St. Louis after sweeping his Grand Prix assignments and the Final.
- He is a two-time reigning world champion, with scores approaching Nathan Chen’s record, and enters the Games as the United States’ leading gold-medal hope.
- Malinin became the first to land the quad axel in 2022 in Lake Placid, a feat analysts say nears the outer limits of human jumping capacity.
- Innovations such as his somersault-style “raspberry twist” draw little official credit because they fall outside the six standard jumps recognized by the ISU.
- With rigid short-program and free-skate requirements limiting payoff for deviation, analysts expect him to favor proven layouts while his team fine-tunes his Olympic peak.