The weight of expectation: Ilia Malinin goes for gold in today’s men’s free skate

The GIST: Today’s the day — 21-year-old American Ilia Malinin, who leads the men’s individual figure skating competition following Tuesday’s short program, will skate for gold. Much has been made of the self-proclaimed Quad God’s promise, so let’s explore why many folks believe the rising star could become the greatest figure skater of all time.

👀 What sets Malinin apart?: Figure skating is a sport of precision and audacity. Similar to legendary Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, Malinin’s routines often have a higher degree of difficulty compared to his competitors because he can perform skills that others simply cannot.

• Case in point? During December’s Grand Prix Final, he completed seven quad jumps (more on those later) in a single program. And then there’s his signature backflip, a move that was banned in figure skating until 2024.

• That said, Malinin’s debut Olympics haven’t been picture-perfect. He finished second in the team event short program, a shock considering he was the heavy favorite, but found redemption in his long program to clinch Team USA the gold.

😵‍💫 Let’s talk about the quadruple axel: The quad axel — a jump that features four and a half rotations — is the most difficult skill in figure skating. It’s so hard that only one person has ever landed it in competition, and that’s Malinin.

• The Quad God notably has yet to perform the skill in Milan. Will he pull it out of his bag of tricks today? Find out when he goes for gold, and looks to write another chapter in his growing legend, today at 1 p.m. ET.