Ilia Malinin, Team USA’s standout figure skater, hails from a family of skaters, as both his mother and father competed at the Olympics. At the ongoing 2026 Winter Games, he has lived up to his parents’ legacy by dominating the men’s short program and emerging as the top skater in the individual standings.
Malinin was also pivotal in helping his team win the title. His performance was highlighted by backflips and jaw-dropping jumps, and he capped it off with a phenomenal free skate, scoring 200.03.
All About Ilia Malinin’s Parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov
Malinin’s mother, Tatiana Malinina, was born in 1973 in a family with a rich sporting history, as her mother was a gymnast and her father a figure skater. In her teenage years, Tatiana moved to Uzbekistan before relocating to Russia and, finally, to Virginia in 1998. The 53-year-old competed in 10 World Championships with the Uzbek team and competed at the 1998 Winter Games, finishing eighth in her discipline.
Her résumé also includes a fourth-place finish at the 1999 World Championships. She retired from figure skating in 2002, the same year she withdrew from the Olympics due to the flu.
Malinin’s father, Skorniakov, followed a similar path, switching representation from Russia to Uzbekistan and competing at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics. The two skaters crossed paths through the sport, married in 2000, and later relocated to the United States, settling in Northern Virginia.
Malinin was born in 2004 and soon found his way to the rink, where his parents coached. The couple also received the Best Coaching Award at the 2025 ISU Skating Awards.
Although Malinina and Skorniakov had accomplished skating careers, they initially dissuaded their son from pursuing the sport, mindful of the toil and relentless effort it demands.
In an interview with ISU Figure Skating, the 53-year-old talked about the same, saying:
“We’re not going to do this anymore because it takes so much time, dedication, so much sacrificing and hard work.”
Despite that, the couple has been training Malinin and helped him become the top prospect for the Olympic individual gold medal at the Milan-Cortina Olympics this year. Malinina once shared that she always feels nervous when seeing her son perform, so she skips travelling with him.
Malinin is nicknamed Quad God because he became the first skater to land a fully rotated quadruple Axel in competition, arguably the hardest maneuver in figure skating. The 21-year-old will head to the free skate later this week as the leader after the short program, amassing a score of 108.16, 5 points ahead of Japanese skater Yuma Kagiyama.
This year, Malinin delivered the first-ever legal backflip in 50 years, leaving the audience, including tennis luminary Novak Djokovic, in awe.
