By Lori Ewing
MILAN, Feb 7 (Reuters) – American Ilia Malinin shook his head after an Olympic debut that was not what he had hoped for, but the 21‑year‑old insisted the moment was bigger than the imperfections.
The two-times world champion, who has been a class above his rivals for more than two years, was upstaged by Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama in the short programme of the team event at the Milano Cortina Games, finishing 10 points back after a shaky skate.
“It wasn’t the perfect ideal 100% skate that I wanted to have, but for the standard I set myself today, I think I achieved that,” he said.
Asked about his shaky landings, he shrugged and smiled.
“I mean, what do you expect? It’s Olympic ice. I’m sure a lot of people would feel that,” he said.
Kagiyama landed two clean quads to score 108.67 points, while Malinin finished with 98.00 – well off his personal best of 110.41 he set en route to winning last year’s World Championships.
Malinin, however, did not include the quadruple Axel – a jump only he has ever landed in competition – in a bid, he said, to conserve energy in the men’s singles competition that begins on Tuesday.
His goal was to pace himself by competing at 50% of his maximum.
He rejected the idea that nerves had been a factor.
“Not really,” he told dozens of reporters who squeezed in shoulder-to-shoulder to speak to him.
“I just felt excited to be here. Come on, it’s the Olympics. You guys are talking like (second place) is a bad thing,” he added. “It’s just so awesome to be here. It’s honestly just a life achievement.”
Malinin said he was not thinking about scores or standings. Just stepping onto Olympic ice fulfilled a dream he has carried since childhood.
“Everyone has been talking about the Olympics for years, ever since I started skating from a young age, and it was something that I’ve dreamed about.
“Really just being out there on that Olympic ice was just the best moment.”
Still, he acknowledged the weight that comes with competing on sport’s biggest stage, not only as one of the top skaters at the Olympics, but one of the Games most-watched athletes in any sport.
“It’s a lot of pressure, and it’s honestly something that I’ve expected to do coming to these Olympics,” he said. “But I just need to pace myself correctly, put myself in the right mindset not to think about that pressure and really just come out here and do what I need to do.”
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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