'This is his moment': Adam Rippon backs Ilia Malinin to thrive at Milano Cortina Games

MILAN – Former U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon said American Ilia Malinin is reshaping men's skating by pairing "impossible" technical difficulty with a growing artistic edge, predicting he will thrive under the bright lights of the Milano Cortina Games.

Rippon, speaking to Reuters at a Ralph Lauren event on the eve of the opening ceremony, compared the sense of inevitability around Malinin's rise to the awe the skating world felt when Nathan Chen won Olympic gold four years ago – a moment that many believed would be unmatched.

"Ilia is doing the impossible," Rippon said, pointing to Malinin's repeated success landing the quadruple Axel, a jump long treated as more theory than reality.

He added that Malinin "makes it look so easy".

Rippon argued that Malinin's appeal extends beyond his jump content, describing him as a great athlete and artist – a combination he said is essential in a sport that sits between athletic performance and interpretation.

"The thing that's amazing about skating is that it's where sport meets art," he said. "And Ilia has found a really good balance of them both."

While Malinin's technical base has made him a global name, Rippon also said the skater's current programmes took time for even enthusiastic observers to fully embrace.

"At first I didn't totally get the programmes that he has this year," he said. "But now I'm on board, sold."

Rippon added that Malinin is not only expanding what is possible on the ice but also testing the sport's scoring framework with the sheer volume and variety of quadruple jumps he can pack into a layout.

"He pushes the computers to their absolute limit. How many different kinds of quads can you add into one scoring system?" he said.

With major competitions drawing increasing attention, Rippon was confident Malinin is built for the global stage and the scrutiny that comes with it.

"I really think that he thrives under the pressure, and he thrives with the attention," he said.

"This is his moment."

In other figure skating news, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency said on Thursday he felt uncomfortable at the presence at the Milano Cortina Olympics of Eteri Tutberidze, former coach of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva who was at the heart of a doping scandal at the Beijing 2022 Games.

Tutberidze, who was not found guilty by WADA of any offence in relation to Valieva’s positive test and never faced any sanction, is currently working with European champion Nika Egadze of Georgia and has arrived in Milan as an accredited coach.

“WADA did not accredit the coach. It is not our decision,” WADA President Witold Banka told a press conference.

“The coach is here. An investigation found no evidence that this particular person engaged in a doping process so there is no legal basis to exclude her from the Olympic Games.

“But, of course, if you ask my personal feeling, I don’t feel comfortable with her presence here at the Olympic Games.” REUTERS