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Ilia Marin won the gold medal after an exceptional free skate.
CNN
—
For all other figure skaters, landing a quadruple axel was outside the realm of possibility, attempted but never achieved by an endless parade of great skaters.
But for American teenage prodigy Ilya Marin, they’re just part of everyday life. And as she landed on Saturday, she won her first world title with her record-breaking performance in the free skate at the World Figure Skating Championships.
The 19-year-old, dubbed the “God of the Quads,” sat in third place after Thursday’s short program and told reporters afterward that he had struggled with physical and mental challenges in his preparation for the world championships. he said.
On Saturday, in his final free skate, he gave a brilliant performance, scoring 227.79 points, the highest score in the history of the tournament, before collapsing on the ice in an emotional fit.
“It means a lot to me,” Marinin said after the match, according to the International Skating Federation. “The last few weeks have been very challenging both mentally and physically.
“I was wondering if I should come here or not. It was last minute, but I wanted to come here to see what I could do on the ice. I’m very happy to be here at the top now.”
Mart Alper Dervis/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Ilia Marin won her first world title.
Skating to music from the TV series Succession, Marinin opened his free skate with a quad axel and then landed five more quad jumps in front of a stunned and incredulous crowd. It was iced.
He remains the only man to land a quadruple axel.
He won by an astonishing 24 points, ahead of Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama in second place and France’s Adam Hsiao Him Hua in third place (who moved up from 19th place after the short program).
“There was a little voice in my head that said, ‘No matter what, you have to keep fighting, you have to keep going, no matter how bad you feel, you have to know that you are capable. ”’ Malinin added. .
His gold medal was the second for the United States at the world championships, following Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ wins in ice dancing earlier Saturday.
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