“Maybe in Russia someone will do everything in the world at once” – Kovtun about Malinin’s quadruple jumps

Four-time Russian champion Maxim Kovtun in a conversation with , he did not exclude that over time one of the Russian skaters could repeat the feat Ilya Malinin which represents the United States.

Malinin won the Grand Prix final on Saturday. In the short program, the 19-year-old skater was the first in history to perform a quadruple axel; in the free skate, he jumped a quadruple loop for the first time in his career.

— Can any of the Russian singles players reach the level of Malinin?

— So far, only one person on the ground jumps the quadruple axle. This is the most difficult element. I can’t imagine how I would make a quad axel myself. I did a quad lutz, a loop, it was straight with all my strength. This is not a fact that anyone will repeat. Yuzuru Hanyu tried to be the first to do a quadruple axel for many years, there were some good attempts, but a little wasn’t enough. Ilya came and did it, maybe someone will appear with us and do everything in the world at once. I would like competition on an international level, and not that we are alone here, but that they are alone. It’s sad.

— You said you couldn’t imagine how you would make this jump yourself. For what?

– Well, I guess, I jumped a million times every day. The problem is different, physically you need a reserve, but morally you have to understand that there is no room for error when studying such a jump if you do it without a fishing rod. You can train with a fishing rod, but without insurance, any mistake will inevitably lead to injury,” Kovtun told .

Malinin was born in the United States to the family of Russian figure skaters Tatyana Malinina and Roman Skornyakov.