'Quadg0d' Malinin headlines figure skating Grand Prix opener at Skate America

The new face of American figure skating began to play around with the quadruple axel, that unicorn of a jump that had never been landed in competition, when he started to see some of the sport's best give it a go about a year ago.

Two-time Olympic champ Yuzuru Hanyu? He kept coming up short on the 4 1/2-rotation jump. Nathan Chen, the American gold medalist at the Beijing Games in February? He couldn't pull it off, either.

"At first it was kind of a joke," Ilia Malinin explained, "but after a little while, I realized it might be possible."

Possibility became reality at the U.S. Classic last month in Lake Placid, New York. Malinin used the lower-level event as a launching pad to land the most difficult jump in figure skating, and in doing so, stamped himself as not only the new face of American skating but the early favourite to win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

"For me in general, after landing that jump, it made me feel a lot more confident," said the 17-year-old Malinin, who will make his senior Grand Prix debut at Skate America near Boston this weekend. "It lets me realize I do have the possibility of pulling it out in competition when there's a lot of stress and a lot of pressure on you."

WATCH | Malinin stars in Boston:

Canada will also be participating in the men's, pairs and ice dance events in Boston, before the Grand Prix heads north to Mississauga on Oct. 28.

Wesley Chiu of Richmond, B.C., and Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., will be competing against Malinin in the men's program.

United States' pair Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier took advantage of the Russian absence to win their first world title in pairs in March, capping a dream season that included spectacular performances at the Beijing