When you get a nickname with the word “god” in it, you know you’ve hit the jackpot. And that’s exactly what’s happening for Team USA Olympic figure skater Ilia Malinin, who has been dubbed the “Quad God” of the world for his ability to execute the extremely difficult quadruple axel jump — and not just one, but multiple quadruple jumps.
“Definitely more people know me for ‘Quad God’ than necessarily my name,” Ilia said in February 2026, per Forbes. “Sometimes, it’s a good thing because having your own nickname can have you stand out more for an audience.”
News47.us has five facts about Ilia that you need to know below.
The figure skater is a Virginia native! Ilia was born in the town of Fairfax and raised in his hometown, Vienna. He comes from a family of figure skaters; his mother is Tatiana Malinina, an Olympic skater who competed for Uzbekistan and the 1999 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final champion, and his father is Olympic skater Roman Skorniakov, who also competed for Uzbekistan.
Ilia was born on December 2, 2004, making him 21 years old at the time of publication.
Ilia formally became the world’s quad master after the 2022 CS U.S. International Classic. He is the first and only skater to land a quadruple axel in an international competition.
