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Ilia Malinin of the United States wins his second consecutive world figure skating title in Boston
Newly crowned world figure skating champion Ilia Malinin is enjoying a little bit of downtime before kicking off his training for next year's Winter Olympics in Milan.
PEOPLE recently caught up with the athlete, 20, while he was in Japan for the World Team Trophy, where Team USA claimed gold. Malinin shared what his plans are for the off-season, including seven U.S. stops for the 2025 Stars on Ice tour, kicking off mid-May.
The self-proclaimed "Quad God" — the first skater to ever land a quadruple Axel jump — also exclusively teased a bit of his strategy heading into the Olympic season.
Related: Alysa Liu Becomes First American Woman to Win World Figure Skating Championships in 19 Years: 'This Is Insane'
"I've always had a lot of fun, because we get to enjoy, as a cast, the tour and explore different places," Malinin says of Stars on Ice.
Malinin is particularly excited for his tour program, which he choreographed 100% on his own. "It's a pretty unique and different number," he explained. "I found this piece of music, and started to play around on the ice with how I can really make a program out of it. Now it's made and all done, and I hope fans like it."
As for his Olympic season programs, Malinin reveals that his team, which includes his parents, Roman Skornyakov and Tatyana Malinina, and legendary coach Rafael Arutunian, is still in the early stages exploring choreography, music and costumes.
"We're still kind of in a work in progress," he admitted. "I'm not sure what way I want to take those programs, but I'm really looking forward to this Olympic season because it's a big season, and I feel like I want to do something that can be most comfortable for me."
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Ilia Malinin performs a backflip at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships in Boston
Part of that comfort is the jump layout.
Kazakh figure skater Mikhail Shaidorov, who finished just behind Malinin at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships, became the first man to land a quadruple jump as the second jump in a combination: the triple Axel-quadruple toe loop and the triple Axel-Euler-quadruple Salchow.
Malinin is aware of what his competitors are trying, but says the Olympic season is not the time to try new elements like a quad-quad combo.
"I already have that layout in mind," Malinin says of his planned program with seven quads. "I definitely think that post-Olympics is where I can play around and try to go for, for example, the quad as the second jump in the combination, or kind of just play around with those things. So that's something that I'll be looking for after the Olympics. For the Olympics, I really want it to just be kind of set in stone, just really get a solid foundation and not have to worry about possible risks."
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Ilia Malinin (center) and Team USA won gold at the 2025 World Team Trophy in Japan
But for now, the ice skater says he's just enjoying touring and exploring each stop. In Japan, he and the other skaters enjoyed vintage shopping. Malinin says he likes to research destinations once he settles into a hotel in a new city.
The Stars on Ice U.S. tour will span the country, starting in Seattle, then head to Anaheim and San Jose, Calif., before going east to St. Paul, Minn., Hershey, Penn. and end with two nights in Boston, where he just won his second consecutive world title in front of a home crowd.
Related: Ilia Malinin, World Champion Figure Skater Who Won Competition Before Deadly Crash, Says He's 'Heartbroken'
But the destination he's looking forward to most, of course, is Olympic host city, Milan.
"I'm really looking forward to because I think there's really a lot of time to actually go and explore the place, so I'll be able to enjoy different food and different culture and stuff that it has to offer. And I'm personally looking forward to that the most."
The 2026 Olympics will run from Feb. 6-22 in Milan, Italy.
You can learn more about the 2025 Stars on Ice stops here.
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