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Malinin spearheads US figure Olympic figure skating challenge / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Malinin spearheads US figure Olympic figure skating challenge
Two-time world reigning world champion Ilia Malinin headlines a powerhouse US Olympic figure skating team named on Sunday for next month's Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
One day after capturing a fourth straight US title in St. Louis in dominant style, skating's "Quad God" is officially headed to his first Olympics, where he'll be an overwhelming favorite for gold.
Four years ago Malinin suffered heartbreak when he was left off the US team for Beijing Games.
Since then he has revolutionized his sport with his jumping prowess, winning back-to-back world titles and piling up unprecedented performances such as his seven-quad free skate at the Grand Prix Final in December.
"It just means so much to me to make this Olympic team," said Malinin, the son of two Olympians who said he's eager to experience the Olympic spirit firsthand.
"I'm just so excited to go there and to represent Team USA and hopefully get that gold for Team USA.
Malinin is joined by Andrew Torgashev, US silver medalist on Saturday and national bronze medalist Maxim Naumov, who punched his Olympic ticket less than a year after his parents Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova died in an air crash.
The couple who inspired Naumov's Olympic dream perished in a mid-air collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter in Washington that killed 67, with 28 of the dead being members of the figure skating community.
"Every day, year after year we talked about the Olympics," said Naumov, who carried an old photo of himself with his parents during the US championships. "I can't even say in words how much this means to me."
Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito make up a blockbuster US women's squad after finishing one-two-three at nationals.
They'll be out to claim the United States' first women's individual figure skating medal since Sasha Cohen won silver in 2006.
Glenn won her third straight US title in St. Louis, edging world champion Liu -- who is headed to a second Olympics after hanging up her skates for two years after competing in Beijing in 2022.
Three-time reigning ice dance world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates head to Milan on the heels of a record seventh US title.
The husband-and-wife team will look to cap another stellar season, possibly their last, with a first Olympic ice dance medal in their fourth Winter Games as a duo.
They were part of the US squad that won team gold in Beijing in 2022, but they settled for fourth in their signature event.
They will be joined in ice dance by Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, and Christina Caeira and Anthony Ponomarenko.
The US will send two pairs teams to Milan: US silver medalists Ellie Kam and Danny O'Sea and Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, who were fourth at nationals.
US gold medalists Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov missed out on the Games as Finland-born Efimova is still awaiting US citizenship confirmation.
E.R. Xavier--JDB
