Humennik acknowledged Malinin's inaccessibility to other skaters

Ilya Malinin, an American figure skater with Russian roots, is out of reach of other athletes at the Olympic Games in Milan in 2026. This was announced on January 22 by the Russian figure skating champion Peter Gumennik.

"Yes, Ilya, of course, went to the next level, he moved faster than anyone to a stable performance of all fours. It seems to me that in the future the guys will catch up and be able to compete with him. But now, of course, he looks unattainable," he said in a conversation with the portal Sport24.

At the same time, Humennik stressed that the American's dominance does not affect his own training, since he has already determined the optimal set of elements for himself — quite complex and at the same time confidently executed. He added that in figure skating, as in any sport, surprises are possible, so it is important to be ready to score maximum points.

"You need to be ready to skate as cleanly as possible, score as many points as possible. And such a strategy will always be a winning one," the athlete concluded.

13 friends of OI: details of Russian athletes' participation in the Olympics are being clarified

There is very little time left before the final announcement of the list of our neutrals in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

In early January, the figure skaters who received a quota to participate in the 2026 Olympics from the US national team became known. Athletes with Russian roots will represent the USA in men's single skating. Among them are two-time world champion Ilya Malinin, two-time U.S. Championship medalist Andrew Torgashev and U.S. Championship bronze medalist Maxim Naumov, the son of tragically deceased 1994 world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

The United States women's figure skating team includes world champion Alice Liu, three-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn and World Championship medalist Isabeau Levito.

On December 1, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Russian figure skaters Adelia Petrosyan and Peter Gumennik had accepted an invitation to participate in the 2026 Olympic Games in a neutral status.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.