President of GMU PRSSA, Kai Sharpless, and AU PRSSA’s Director of Internal Events, Braden Miller, moderate a discussion with Ilia Malinin on Sept. 17 in Kerwin Hall at American University. (Ryan Barna / American University)

Malinin thanks Washington, D.C., “just for being here”

BY EMMA G. SCHAIBLE, NEWS EDITOR

Award-winning figure skater and George Mason University student Ilia Malinin was recognized as the Public Relations Student Society of America’s 2026 Icons of DC Honoree Thursday night at an event hosted at American University. 

Following his Olympic debut in February, the student-led public relations organization awarded Malinin the Icons of DC award, which “recognizes people and organizations who have made tremendous contributions to the DC community.” 

Malinin was recognized because of the attention he brought to Washington, D.C. during his 2026 Olympic debut. 

“As I’ve grown up, the area has grown too,” said Malinin, an Exploratory Studies major from Vienna.

George Mason’s and American University’s chapters of the Public Relations Student Society of America worked together to organize the event. The groups, which represent the student branch of the Public Relations Society of America, aim to enhance education and broaden networks in public relations. 

In addition to his gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Milan Olympics, Malinin is also a three-time World champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion, seven-time Grand Prix gold medalist, four-time Challenger Series gold medalist and four-time U.S. national champion, making him the most decorated active male figure skater. 

Throughout his success he has crafted a very disciplined routine, being on the ice seven days a week and developing a diet that is “on point.” 

He described his pre-competition ritual in an interview with Fourth Estate. 

“I like to eat specifically a milk chocolate Hershey’s bar before I step on the ice before my competition because it helps me suppress the nerves a little bit,” Malinin said. 

“Instead of feeling nervous, I just feel full.”

His parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, are also Olympic ice skaters and are now his primary coaches, fusing family life and skating. 

“We can talk about family things at the ice … what we’re having for dinner; what we’re doing next weekend. Or when we’re at home, it can be simple corrections like, you gotta skate more, you don’t look so good … I like this balance, and it works out pretty well for me.”

Malinin also has a passion for fashion; he recently attended a Moncler Fifth Avenue reception during New York Fashion Week on Sept. 10. He helps sketch out his costumes and edits throughout the design process.

“I try to put as many sparkles as I can on my costumes,” Malinin said. “It doesn’t happen on purpose, but [that’s] usually in the end result.” 

Malinin plays an essential role in the creative design of his routines. He will start with a theme, song or genre and then take it to the ice. He and his coaches will often turn on music to see how it flows on the ice before creating a routine. The choreography is the first step of the process. 

In the future, he hopes to work in fashion design and currently creates content on YouTube to garner attention on his modeling and acting skills. 

Off the ice, Malinin skateboards and spends time with his two ragdoll cats, Mysti and Miu Miu. He also streams Fortnite on Twitch. According to his dad, a family favorite activity is seeing movies at Tysons Corner. 

Despite the travel, fame and four-to-six hours of daily training, Malinin stresses that he tries to be a normal teenager, and he isn’t that different from the average Mason student. Malinin was born in Fairfax, Virginia and now lives in Vienna. 

Although he has never eaten at one of George Mason’s dining halls, he thinks “it’s probably something I should do in the future.”  

His father, Skorniakov, said Mason was Malinin’s primary choice for university because it was “easier to commute and schedule.”

Though he mostly takes virtual classes now, Malinin has taken engineering, contemporary dance and photography classes in-person at Mason. He remembers “being like the little shy freshman, just not knowing where to go and having to ask people ‘Where is this? Where is this place?’”

During his Olympic run in February 2026, Malinin knew Mason was rallying behind him. He saw “all the notifications … from the George Mason socials.”  

“The amount of support I got was just unreal,” Malinin said.

The George Mason and American University Public Relations Student Society of America present Ilia Malinin with the Icons of DC Award on Sept. 17 in Kerwin Hall at American University. (Ryan Barna / American University)

While answering questions from both organizers and audience members, Malinin emphasized the importance of having a community and “a support system around for you … it has just changed the perspective that I see things in my career and even just in a training environment.”

Malinin will be on the ice again in November, competing in Skate America hosted in Everett,  Washington. No details of his routine have been made public yet. 

“It’s definitely a style I have not really tried, ever,” he said. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: The 2026 Olympics was incorrectly noted as happening in Paris, instead of Milan. (Tuesday, Sept. 22, 11:21 a.m.)