(Photo credit: Adam Cairns-Imagn Images)

Two-time world champion figure skater Ilia Malinin demonstrated on Thursday evening why he is a clear favorite to win gold at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics next month.

The 21-year old Vienna, Va., native far outdistanced himself from the rest of the field in the men's short program at the US Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Mo.

Malinin, known as 'Quad God,' electrified the crowd, executing several quadruple jumps and amassing 115.10 points. He is more than 25 points ahead of second-place Tomoki Hiwatashi (Englewood, N.J.), who totaled 89.26 points.

Jason Brown, from Highland Park, Ill., sits in third place with 88.49 points.

'I just came into this competition to see what happens out there, and I'm impressed with myself,' Malinin said. 'I didn't know I was able to skate that good. I felt good and everything seemed to flow really well.'

As a 17-year-old, Malinin did not qualify for the US Olympic team that competed in China, but bounced back to win world titles in 2024 and 2025.

Three men will qualify for the U.S. team and less than four points separate second-place Hiwatashi and fifth-place Andrew Torgashev. Maxim Naumov is in fourth position.

The championships conclude with the free skate on Friday.

In the ice dancing competition, the dominant wife and husband duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates took a solid lead after the rhythm dance competition. The three-time and reigning world champions scored 91.70 points, nearly six points ahead of the tandem of Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik (85.98).

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko are just behind Zingas and Kolesnik at 83.29 points.

Caroline Green and Michael Parsons (80.55) and Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville (79.43) are in the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, heading into Saturday's free dance competition.

'We had a ton of fun performing today. It really felt like we were very present and grounded and able to enjoy the energy of the arena and the energy between the two of us,' said Chock.

'We felt like this was a great skate and a good stepping stone towards Milan.'

Three duos will represent the United States in Italy next month.

--Field Level Media