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George Mason University students packed the Johnson Center in Fairfax on Feb. 10 to cheer on classmate Ilia Malinin as the Vienna figure skater surged into first place in the men’s short program at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Malinin, 21, delivered a near-perfect performance featuring soaring jumps and a backflip. His 108.16-point score put him atop the field and advanced him to the individual final as the gold-medal favorite.
The two-time reigning world champion opened with a quadruple flip, followed with a triple axel and completed a quadruple lutz-triple toe loop combination worth more than 22 points. He skated to music from the video game “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.”
Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama finished second with 103.07 points. The roughly five-point margin gives Malinin a significant advantage entering the longer free skate, where his technical repertoire could prove decisive. Kagiyama had defeated him in the short program during the team competition days earlier.
Nicknamed the “Quad God,” Malinin remains the only figure skater to land a quadruple axel in competition.
The Olympic run carries special significance at George Mason. Malinin, who is studying in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences but has not declared a major, became the university’s first student or alumnus to win Winter Olympic gold when he helped the United States secure its second consecutive figure-skating team title on Feb. 7.
Malinin graduated from Marshall High School in 2023, lives in Vienna and trains at SkateQuest in Reston.
Rose Pascarell, George Mason’s vice president of university life, said Malinin’s success is inspiring for students because he is balancing Olympic competition with college courses.
“Ilia’s taken a non-traditional path. He’s pursuing his gold medal. He’s in the Olympics, but he’s also taking classes when he can,” Pascarell said. “He’s really representative of a lot of our students.”
The Johnson Center erupted in applause during Malinin’s routine. Junior anthropology student Kierstin Strassburg, who has followed his career since her freshman year, said the viewing event brought the campus together and drew more student interest to the Olympics.
Senior computer science student Doogie Hong said Malinin’s achievement at 21 demonstrates that people can take many different paths in life. He also praised athletes who make time for education while maintaining demanding training schedules.
Strassburg echoed that admiration, noting how difficult it can be to manage an ordinary course load without the added pressure of preparing for the Olympics.
George Mason will hold another watch party for the men’s final at 1 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 13 in the Johnson Center atrium. A simultaneous event is planned for Room 1311 of Fuse at Mason Square on the university’s Arlington campus.