Ilia Malinin (USA) competes in the ice dance free dance during the 2025 Skate Canada International at SaskTel Centre.

U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin broke the world record for the free skate in winning Skate Canada with ease on Sunday, keeping his two-year unbeaten streak intact and underscoring his status as favourite to win Olympic gold at the Milano-Cortina Games.

The 20-year-old from Fairfax, Va., landed six quads along with a triple axel during a sublime free skate, set to music from the French supernatural thriller Les Bal des Folles , to finish with a personal-best 333.81 points. That left the two-time and reigning world champion 76.6 points clear of second-place Aleksandr Selevko, an absurd margin in figure skating’s elite events.

Malinin’s free-skate score of 228.97 surpasse

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