Ilia Malinin, a 19-year-old American figure skating prodigy, fought through mental and physical fatigue to put on the show of his life over the weekend. He took home his first world title after laying down a free skate that broke every competition scoring record on the books.
Nicknamed the "quad god" for his ability to perform challenging and complicated quadruple jumps, Malinin crammed six cleanly landed quads into his free skate at the World Figure Skating Championship, performing to the theme from the TV show "Succession."
It was a perfect marriage between music and movement. The theme is a minor-key masterpiece with sequences of sliding notes that are perfect for long strings of jumps and other skills, and Malinin's athleticism fit perfectly with the music.