• A ‘harrowing’ and ‘heavenly’ video of a 12-year-old Ilia Malinin from the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships has gone viral as the ‘Quad God’ prepares for Olympic individual gold.
• The ‘tiny’ powerhouse—who was born to skate—is seen dominating the Intermediate Men’s division with a ‘surgical’ precision that hinted at his future status as the world’s greatest jumper.
• Despite his ‘shimmering’ innocence, Malinin’s 2017 short program featured a level of ‘raw’ athleticism that left judges in no doubt he was a ‘generational’ talent in the making.
• Fans have branded the footage a ‘masterclass in destiny,’ watching the ‘Warrior’ of the 2026 Games as a ‘pint-sized’ prodigy coached by his legendary Olympian parents.

He’s currently the most feared man on ice, but nine years ago, Ilia Malinin was just a ‘tiny’ kid with a big dream and a very fast rotation.

As the 21-year-old ‘Quad God’ sits in the gold-medal position at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics, a ‘soul-searing’ piece of history has resurfaced from the archives. Footage from the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships shows a 12-year-old Malinin—then a ‘comically small’ prodigy—delivering a short program that effectively predicted his path to Olympic immortality.

Competing in the Intermediate Men’s category, the ‘Warrior’ of today was then a ‘breathtakingly’ energetic youngster. Dressed in a simple competitive outfit, the 12-year-old Malinin (who was 11 for much of the 2016 qualifying season) displayed the same ‘fearless’ attack on his jumps that has since become his ‘shimmering’ trademark.

THE MAKING OF A GOD

• THE TITLE: At just 12, Malinin secured the 2017 U.S. National Intermediate Champion title, a year after winning the Juvenile gold.

• THE COACHES: He was already being guided by the ‘surgical’ hands of his parents, Tatyana Malinina and Roman Skornyakov, who both competed for Uzbekistan in the 1998 and 2002 Games.

• THE STYLE: Even then, insiders noted his ‘contemporary and effortless’ style, though his signature quadruple jumps were still a few years away.

The atmosphere in the 2017 footage is a ‘poignant’ contrast to the ‘thunderous’ 12,000-strong crowds he faces today in Milan. While he was then skating in near-empty arenas during the early morning sessions of Nationals, his ‘raw’ talent was already causing a ‘furious’ buzz among scouts.

“He was so tiny!” one fan wrote on Reddit after revisiting the clip. “It’s like watching a slide show of a legend learning to walk. Except he wasn’t walking; he was flying.”

Indeed, Malinin’s 2017 routine was ‘technical perfection’ for his age group. While his competitors were struggling with double jumps, the young Malinin was already showing the ‘miraculous’ timing and air position that would eventually allow him to land the world’s first-ever quadruple Axel.

As the ‘Quad God’ prepares for Friday’s individual free skate, where he looks to secure a second gold medal for Team USA, this 2017 throwback serves as a powerful reminder of his ‘harrowing’ journey. He didn’t become an icon overnight; he was ‘bred in a lab’ for this moment, one ‘breathtaking’ blade-stroke at a time.

What do you think? Was little Ilia always destined for Olympic gold? Does his 12-year-old form remind you of any other skating legends? Let us know in the comments below!