Figure skating-Malinin's dominance expected to make men's singles a race for silver

MILAN, Feb 8 : American Ilia Malinin arrived at the Milano Cortina Olympics as such an overwhelming favourite that the focus of the men's figure skating event has all but shifted from the competition for gold to a calculation of the margin by which he will claim it. 

Over the past two years, the 21-year-old has built one of the most dominant streaks in modern figure skating, winning the last two world championships, the last three Grand Prix Finals, and four consecutive U.S. titles. 

He routinely defeats the field by eye‑popping spreads - 29.88 points at the 2025 Grand Prix Final, more than 30 at the 2025 World Championships, and a massive 57.26 points at the 2026 U.S. Championships - making his supremacy less a storyline than a statistical certainty.

"He pushes the computers to their absolute limit. How many different kinds of quads can you add into one scoring system?" former U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon told Reuters in Milan.

No other skater matches his technical firepower, anchored by the fully rotated quadruple Axel that only he has landed successfully in international competition. 

He also became the first skater in history to land seven quads in a programme.

He had a shaky Olympic debut, though, finishing second behind Japan's Yuma Kagiyama in Saturday's short programme of the team event. But it is not the first time. He sat third after the short at the Grand Prix Final in December, but roared back into the lead after a free skate stacked with quads. 

"I'm so glad I am sitting and watching it and not having to be a part of it - it is truly science fiction from what I was doing back in the day," 1980 Olympic men's champion Robin Cousins said on Saturday night's BBC broadcast. 

With a resume already bordering on