Where is Ilia Malinin from? Hometown, college and more to know about Virginia roots

United States figure skater Ilia Malinin is competing in his first-ever Olympics during the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.  

Malinin is nicknamed the "quad god" for his ability to land a rare quadruple-axel jump. Although he has yet to do one in Milan, he'll be looking to add more accolades in his competitive skating career.

Let's take a look at where Malinin is from, including his hometown and more.  

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Ilian Malinin hometown 

Ilia Malinin is from Fairfax, Virginia, which sits just outside the nation's capital in Washington, D.C. The city has a population of over 26,000 residents. 

Malinin grew up in Virginia primarily because of his parents' careers. His mother, Tatiana Malinina, was born in the Soviet Union. She skated for the USSR before representing Uzbekistan. She won three gold medals in competitions like the Four Continents Championships, the Grand Prix Final and Asian Winter Games.

Tatiana moved to Dale City, Virginia, which sits just 19 miles south of Fairfax, with Malinin's father, Roman Skorniakov, in 1998. Skorniakov also skated competitively for the USSR and Uzbekistan, winning silver during the 1999 Winter Games.

Ilia's parents gave their son the masculine inflection of his mother's last name because they thought that the last name Skorniakov would be too difficult to pronounce. 

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The two moved to Virginia for better training conditions and then married in 2000. After their figure skating careers were over, they continued to coach figure skating in the Northern Virginia area, which is how he got into skating. 

Malinin's grandfather, Valeri, is also a skating coach that still lives in Uzbekistan. 

"He has an interesting personality trait, Valeri said of his grandson in a 2023 interview. "I remember we frightened him that he was not working well enough in training. We used to tell him, “Ilia, when you go to your competitions, there will be five boys, and the one who works well and trains well will win, and you will be the last.” He says, “No, I won’t be the last.” We say, “Well, how?” “You’ll see!” he says. The most intriguing thing is that he was always a winner or prizewinner in competitions. 

"For the next competition, the preparation was again difficult, and he said, 'Well, I won’t be the last, you’ll see!' This feature is from his mother; if I want, I will do it."

Malinin is fluent in both Russian and English. 

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Ilia Malinin high school 

Ilia Malinin attended high school at George C. Marshall High School in Falls Church, Virginia. He was still in high school when he landed his first-ever quadruple jump, during the 2020 Skate America. He landed his first-ever quadruple axel during the 2022 U.S. International Classic.   

MORE: Ilia Malinin's 'Quad God' nickname, explained

Where does Ilia Malinin go to college? 

Ilia Malinin is enrolled at George Mason University, which is located in Fairfax, Virginia. Per the school, the 21-year-old is an exploratory studies major in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.  

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Ilia Malinin medals 

Ilia Malinin has a gold medal from the 2026 Winter Olympic Games already. But already throughout his skating career, which began when he was a junior in 2019, he has won 13 gold medals, including a silver and two bronze. 

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