Quad Gods and Comeback Kids

An overly enthusiastic and not-at-all comprehensive Olympic Figure Skating primer

For someone with an intense fear of falling, a dislike of blades, and minimal coordination and/or flexibility (both mental and physical), figure skating isn’t a natural fit.

So I am not and was not a figure skater. Instead, I am a very devoted fan of figure skating and, once every four years, the world cares too.

If you are not closely following the figure skating world, consider this a mini primer to get you HYPED for Milan this coming Friday. (Fun fact: once at a corporate training, I was called out for not “getting hype enough” which, to be fair, is what happens when the topic is harassment training and not Russian doping scandals).

This is heavily biased to just what I think is interesting but you did come to my Substack so hopefully that’s not a surprise.

Men’s Singles

There is really only one thing that matters and one thing to see: Ilia Malinin, who years ago picked the Instagram handle “quadg0d” and we all (or maybe just I) thought it was annoying, is, in fact, the Quad God. He is the ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD who can land a quadruple axel (the axel is actually always an additional half revolution so it’s 4.5 rotations hence why it’s a big deal) and also likes to throw in a (now legal) backflip for good measure.

Apparently he is now teasing a quintuple jump that he might debut at the Olympics. I don’t even know if there is a scoring mechanism for quintuple jumps. His artistry isn’t going to blow you away but the showmanship is top notch and getting to watch a generational talent achieve feats no one else on the planet can is absolutely worth your time.

The assumption is that barring some kind of illness or injury, the gold medal is Ilia’s for the taking and the question is by how much. Across 2025 Grand Prix events, Malinin won by an average margin of close to 50 points.

Here’s a mini preview of Ilia — quad axel around 0:53:

Also of note in Men’s Singles is Maxim Naumov who lost both his parents (who also happened to be his coaches) in last year’s January plane crash that devastated the US figure skating community. His last conversation with his father was essentially “how are we going to get you to the Olympics next year?” He skates to Chopin and I cry the whole time.

Worth watching:

• Yuma Kagiyama from Japan who won silver in the 2022 Olympics and has some really strong quad jumps

• Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté from Spain who is a really creative performer

• Petr Gumennik who is from Russia but competing under a neutral flag is one of most competitive technically non-US/non-Japanese skaters

And while he retired, I still regularly rewatch Nathan Chen’s short program from last Olympics which just exuded everything I love in blending artistry and technical brilliance (and a French soundtrack/Vera Wang costume both of which put it over the top):

Ice Dancing

Usually Ice Dancing is listed fourth of the different events but it’s my favorite overall and deserves better billing. Thank goodness I don’t even need to make the full case on why Ice Dancing is the best because Netflix just released a fantastic three-part docuseries called “Glitter & Gold” that sums it all up (but in case you aren’t going to commit three hours to that and want the TL;DR - Ice Dancing features the highest quality ACTUAL skating and is more fun and artistic and without the throws of Pairs, has a lower risk of paralysis).

This year’s Ice Dancing event is going to be extra fun because all of the teams that made the podium at the last Olympics retired. Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA have been dominating internationally ever since (and placed 4th in Beijing). Madison is stunningly beautiful to watch and is from the same town we lived in in Michigan. Also she and Evan are married with two toy poodles — so we’re clearly very close to the same person. This is likely their last Olympics and they’re in it to win it having never won an individual medal before. Here’s a favorite past program with Madison as a snake/Evan as the snake charmer:

The docu-series introduces Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier from Canada as their biggest competition and they’ve always been known as the “quirky” team (hard to see why from their rhythm dance outfit in Beijing):

This was Piper and Paul’s costume choice four years ago, so imagine what they’re planning for this year’s RuPaul routine.

Piper and Paul are fun to watch but I’m not sure they’re really big time competition unless Chock and Bates have a really bad day.

Everyone thought this was in the bag for the USA until last year when… GUILLAUME CIZARON, WHO WON GOLD IN 2022, CAME OUT OF RETIREMENT WITH A NEW PARTNER. Cizaron and Papadakis set a world record for the highest ever score in a rhythm dance with this routine:

Often in Ice Dancing, it’s all about the female partner and the male team member is kind of… just there… but Guillaume is probably the most captivating male ice dancer I’ve ever seen in my life (and more so in the docuseries to be honest). Normally teams are together for a decade plus before winning at the Olympics but Guillaume and his new partner Laurence Fournier-Beaudry have been friends for years and are putting up some top numbers when they nail it.

Also of note: Cizaron/Fournier-Beaudry and Chock/Bates share coaches and work in the same training center and both have had MAJOR issues with costuming causing problems/errors in their work (which doesn’t sound dramatic when I write it but I swear it is — their respective skirts are essentially supporting cast members in the documentary).

My favorite ice dancers ever are Charlie White and Meryl Davis (would be a tie with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir but Charlie and Meryl lived near us in Michigan so we saw them occasionally which made me feel more closely bonded). The scoring was different in their era so there’s a bit more dance and a little less acrobatics but their short program to “My Fair Lady” remains a favorite:

Women’s Singles

Amber Glenn comes into the Olympics as the US National champion and can land a triple axel (3.5 rotations) which is not common in women’s skating – in fact, two of the weaker Japanese skaters do it but none of the other top contenders have triple axels in their programs at all. She has a lot of momentum and is a beautiful skater to watch. And she’s skating to Madonna. I loved her routine at Nationals and also love her devoted police officer father from Texas who tears up during her programs.

Using Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” seems to be creating more than the usual copyright challenges so apologies if this video has disappeared! I will try and replace.

However, I also have a soft spot for Alysa Liu who retired post-Beijing, and came back (but only if her coaches agreed to let it be fully on her terms) and then won the World Championships in 2025. Also, I only recently learned that in Beijing there were major concerns that the Chinese might be spying on her/her family and they had to be provided with extra security? Not sure, but will also say her devoted father is another favorite to watch in the stands (are skating dads the new Michael Phelps’ moms but without Chico’s sponsorships???)

Internationally, there’s major competition from the Japanese skaters especially Kaori Sakamoto who probably has the best raw skating skills in the field overall and is known to do well under pressure. However, she has no quads and no triple axel in her program. Among the “Russians,” the strongest performer is Adeliia Petrosian who can outscore others technically and has had some quad jumps in her rotation (although hasn’t been doing as much with some early 2025 injuries). If either Sakamoto or Petrosian skates clean, they’re considered more likely winners than any of the US skaters.

Italy has a very strong skater, Lara Naki Gutmann, who isn’t a major podium threat but it’s always fun to see an at-home skater with a legitimate shot get support!

Pairs

Honestly, I don’t like Pairs that much and don’t usually watch at all. I was going to watch when I found out Canada had a 42 year old woman who returned to the sport and was legitimately competitive but apparently they just withdrew yesterday due to injury.

Here’s a glimpse of what we could have seen though (and a celebration of a pretty incredible athlete to be able to get back into this kind of shape in her late 30s and be a World Champion at 40) — also worth a look at the Oscar de la Renta costume.

Otherwise, if you like Pairs and weren’t permanently scarred by a made-for-TV movie about Elena Berezhnaya’s horrible injury, you should know that supposedly there hasn’t really been a dominant team this season so anyone could win.

I welcome any figure skating commentary in comments and cannot wait for Friday. The only person in my life who cared at all about figure skating was my mother (who had a soft spot for Yuzuru Hanyu even if the Winnie the Pooh fetish creeped her out) and this will now be my second Olympics without her so thank you for letting me redirect the energy that would have gone into phone calls with her to this post.

Note: because of music and television rights, skating videos tend to go up and down with abandon. If one is missing, I will try to replace!