FILE - Gold medalist Ilia Malinin, of the United States, celebrates during a medal ceremony for men's free skating at the figure skating world championships, March 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Nathan Chen remembers watching Ilia Malinin early in his career. The two had been training under their long-time coach, Rafael Arutyunyan, and they would periodically share the ice, giving Chen a little glimpse at the future of American skating.

“This was at a time when he wasn't even doing any quads,” Chen recalled earlier this year, just before Malinin captured his second consecutive world championship in dominant fashion in Boston. “You could see that he wasn't going to be far off.”

Chen went on to win Olympic gold in Beijing four years ago, capping his performance with a near-flawless free skate inside a mostly empty arena during the COVID-19 pandemic. When he stepped away from the sport shortly thereafter, Malinin was ready to step into the spotlight — and the 20-year-old jumping phenom hasn't stepped back out.

Now, the wunderkind nicknamed the “Quad God” for his ability to land jaw-dropping four-revolution jumps has his sights set on his own Olympic gold. And that quest begins this weekend, when figure skating's Grand Prix season begins in Angers, France.

“He's in a position where he's clearly coming into championship events and throwing down really good programs,” Chen said, when asked for any advice he might provide Malinin. “I would just say, ‘Whatever he’s doing, keep doing it.'”

After the Grand Prix de France, which begins Friday, the season continues with the Cup of China, Skate Canada and the NHK Trophy in Japan. Skate America is scheduled for mid-November before the Finlandia Trophy. The top skaters after those events will gather back in Japan in December for the Grand Prix Final, which should also serve as an Olympic preview.

Malinin, who is also scheduled to compete at Skate Canada, will be pushed at the season-opening event by Adam Siao Him Fa, who has won his home Grand Prix event the past three years. The other big name in the men's field is Kao Miura of Japan, who won the Grand Prix event in Finland two years ago but struggled most of last season.

His countryman, reigning Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama, is considered Malinin's biggest competition for gold at the Milano-Cortina Games in February. He is scheduled to compete at the NHK Trophy and Finlandia Trophy.

Mikhail Shaidorov, the world silver medalist, will make his season debut at the Cup of China and compete at Skate America.

Women

World champion Alysa Liu is on the same schedule as Shaidorov with her debut set for the Cup of China and a date with Skate America. Her teammate and Olympic hopeful, Amber Glenn, also will be at Cup of China along with the Finlandia Trophy.

Liu, who was sixth at the Beijing Games, came back from a brief retirement last year to deliver the U.S. its first women's world title since Kimmie Meissner in 2006. It immediately thrust her into the Olympic spotlight as one of the favorites for Milan.

“This is probably, you know, bad to say because so many people are like, supporting me to try to make the Olympics and do whatever, win medals,” Liu told The Associated Press, “but although I really appreciate everyone's effort — and they might take offense to me saying this — skating is not really my priority in life. My priority is mindset. That is my priority.”

Olympic hopefuls Isabeau Levito and Elyce Lin-Gracey will represent the U.S. this week in France. Other top names in the field include three-time world champ Kaori Sakamoto of Japan and world bronze medalist Kim Chaeyeon of Korea.

Ice Dance

Olympic favorites Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the three-time defending world ice dance champions, will make their debut at Cup of China and perform at Skate America. They helped the U.S. win the team event at the Beijing Games, but they finished just off the podium in fourth in the ice dance, and they have made it clear their goal is gold in Milan.

Their biggest competition could come from Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who finished second to them at worlds. They will be at Skate Canada and the Finlandia Trophy, so a head-to-head matchup would have to wait until the Grand Prix Final.

Guillaume Cizeron, who won Olympic gold with Gabriella Papadakis, is returning to the ice at the Grand Prix de France with his new partner, Laurence Fournier-Beaudry. She was ninth at the Beijing Games with her old partner, Nikolaj Sorensen.

Pairs

World pairs champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara will begin their pursuit of Olympic gold this week in France, where the field also includes Canadian standouts Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, along with the U.S. pairs of Audrey Shin and Balázs Nagy and Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman.

Other top U.S. teams include Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, who will debut at the NHK Trophy, and Ellie Kam and Daniel O'Shea, who will start their Grand Prix season at Skate Canada.

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics

News from © The Associated Press, 2025