Katarina Witt on Ilya Marinin’s pressure: ‘He’s only human’
On Milan Magic, Katarina Witt talks about Ilia Marin’s last performance and the pressures that come with performing on the Olympic stage.
take sports seriously
- Ilia Marin won her third consecutive world figure skating championship.
- Marinin’s victory came six weeks after a disappointing performance at the Milan Olympics.
- They scored nearly 23 points more than the second place team and won by a large margin.
- Marinin said the victory did not make up for the Olympics, but rather that he is looking to 2030 for redemption.
PRAGUE — Six weeks and one day after his terrible failure at the Milan Olympics, Ilya Marinin threw back his head and screamed in joy. The judges’ scores would be decided within minutes, but he already knew. he knew what he did. Five successful quad jumps with no falls or stumbles, combined with the huge lead he already had in the long program? There’s no doubt about it. He will become world champion for the third year in a row.
The same long program that was a crushing disappointment for the 21-year-old “Quad God” in February brought him nothing but joy in March. He won the world championship with a landslide victory. His total of 329.40 points was nearly 23 points ahead of Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama (306.67 points), with Japan’s Shun Sato (288.54 points) far behind in third place.
Marin’s first thought? “I’m really relieved.”
In the final event of the grueling 2026 Olympic season, Ilia became Ilia again. But in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY Sports after the tournament, he said no matter how excited he was about his performance at the world championships, it won’t make up for what happened in Milan.
“They are two different things,” he said. “It’s good to finish the season on a good note and I’m proud of it, but at the end of the day these are two completely different sports and I think the real redemption will be in 2030 (the next Winter Olympics).”
Since Milan, Malin said he has been working on changing his mindset for major competitions. The goal coming here was to be able to push aside the high expectations that he set for himself at the Olympics, plus the high expectations that everyone else had built on top of.
“Definitely, that’s something I’ve changed and I’m definitely going to embrace that over the next few years. I definitely know that I’ve done a lot for this sport, and now I feel like I’ve officially earned what I believe I’ve achieved for this sport. And now all I have to do is enjoy myself and use that as a lever to make the sport bigger and better.”
Marinin “let go of everything” with overwhelming comeback at world championships
How did his new thought process manifest itself on the ice during the men’s long program on Saturday, March 28th?
“I let everything go,” Marinin said. “In the end it was different mentally. Honestly, it was totally different than my usual approach. Anything could happen. That’s how I approached it honestly. No expectations, no pressure, just going out there and skating.”
As serious as it may sound, Malinin was able to laugh at himself and his Olympic nightmare in an on-ice interview talking about his performance here.
“My expectation was to finish the long program successfully,” he said, drawing smiles from the audience. “And I definitely made it happen.”
In various interviews after the event, Marinin mentioned several times how happy he was that the Olympic skating season was over. My Japanese colleagues nodded in agreement. Who can blame them? They have all endured the greatest pressures in their young lives.
All three have announced they will be joining the “Stars on Ice” tour, headlined by Olympic stars Alisa Liu, Madison Chock, Evan Bates and Malin.
So are they moving from skating to more skating? Yes, but only one kind. Marinin said touring is not a job.
“It’s entertainment, it’s not high-pressure, it’s a friendly, nice environment. That’s how I relax.”
Also, listening to music, playing video games, and “sleeping all day.”
He, his parents (who also serve as coaches), and his choreographers will soon begin creating new music, new programs and new costumes for the next skating season.
You could say it’s one year at a time, but Marin has bigger plans.
“This is to give us a fresh start for the next four years.”
