Ilia Malinin's gravity-defying jumps and strategic plan make him a favorite for Olympic gold

The two-time and reigning world champion — and the odds-on favorite to deliver the U.S. its second straight Olympic gold come February — leaped and pranced his way to a score of 321.00 t wo weekends ago in Angers, France. It was the second-best score in international competition for Malinin, and more than 40 points clear of second-place Adam Siao Him Fa.

“I'm pretty satisfied with my performance and how I skated,” Malinin told The Associated Press, ahead of Skate Canada this weekend. “It was definitely a good time to practice and really get myself ready for the season, and slowly build myself.”

Build himself? Malinin looked like a finished product.

His new short program and free skate, choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne, were more refined than when Malinin debuted them at the lower-level Lombardia Trophy in September. The short included a quadruple lutz-triple toe loop combination, and a backflip just for fun, while his free included five triple jumps with all but one earning positive grade-of-execution marks.

In fact, Malinin's free skate score of 215.78 points was better than the total score for three of the 12 competitors in France, and he did it without the quadruple axel, a 4 1/2-revolution jump that only he has ever landed in competition.

It's all part of a carefully crafted plan put together by Malinin's close-knit team, which includes Bourne, coach Rafael Arutyunyan and his parents, both of whom were Olympic skaters. He is scheduled to compete again at Skate Canada this weekend, instead of Skate America in mid-November, and then the Grand Prix Final in early December in Nagoya, Japan.

Then comes the U.S. championships in St. Louis in January, the last real tune-up before the Milano-Cortina Games.

“We've been planning a strategic plan to best prepare myself mentally and physically,” Malinin said, “so as I get to the Olympics, that's when I'm at my peak performance, and 100% best. We've talked through for months, and managing what I train and how I train specifically. After all the competitions leading up to the Olympics, trying to get feedback and build myself up.”

Not surprisingly, many high-profile companies are scrambling to support him in that quest.

On Monday, Comcast and its consumer brand, Xfinity, announced that Malinin would be part of its roster for the Winter Games. He is the only figure skater among a group of Olympic and Paralympic athletes that includes Alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin, women's hockey standout Taylor Heise and Olympic champion speedskater Erin Jackson.

Thing is, Malin has been so good for so long, he could be competing against himself when he does step on the ice at the Forum di Milano in February. He hasn't lost a competition in two years, and his scores have been in another stratosphere entirely.

At the Cup of China last weekend, Japan's Shun Sato — widely considered one of Malinin's chief rivals for Olympic gold — won with a score of 278.12 points, or about 43 points fewer than the American scored at the Grand Prix de France.

What might the difference be when Malinin has built himself up to his peak?

“Ilia's just technically amazing with what he does,” Bourne told the AP in a recent interview. “If he hears he's lacking something, he's the first to shine a light on anything that needs improvement. He wants to tackle things wherever he needs to grow. He does not just want to coast on the things he's good at. That's such a beautiful thing.”

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