After Olympic Disaster, 'Quad God' Is Champ Again

Ilia Malinin is back on the top step of the podium. Six weeks after a disastrous free skate knocked the Olympic gold-medal favorite out of medal contention, the "quad god" reeled off one huge jump after another, and a backflip for good measure, to retain his world championship title on Saturday for the third year running, per the AP. Malinin shouted and punched the air with relief after finishing his skate at the International Skating Union World Championships in Prague.

"It was really challenging, really hard, but with you guys I was able to make it through," he said afterward, directing his comments to the crowd. Skating last after leading the short program, just as he did in Milan, Malinin landed five high-scoring quadruple jumps but not his pioneering quad axel, a jump he didn't attempt at the Olympics. Malinin scored 218.11 in the free skate for a total 329.40, far ahead of silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan at 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was third at 288.54.