By Rory Carroll
Feb 5 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon said American Ilia Malinin is reshaping men's skating by pairing "impossible" technical difficulty with a growing artistic edge, predicting he will thrive under the bright lights of the Milano Cortina Games.
Rippon, speaking to Reuters at a Ralph Lauren event on the eve of the opening ceremony, compared the sense of inevitability around Malinin's rise to the awe the skating world felt when Nathan Chen won Olympic gold four
years ago - a moment many believed would be unmatched.
"Ilia is doing the impossible," Rippon said, pointing to Malinin's repeated success landing the quadruple Axel, a jump long treated as more theory than reality. He added that Malinin "makes it look so easy".
Rippon argued that Malinin's appeal extends beyond his jump content, describing him as a great athlete and artist - a combination he said is essential in a sport that sits between athletic performance and interpretation.
"The thing that's amazing about skating is that it's where sport meets art," Rippon said. "And Ilia has found a really good balance of them both."
While Malinin's technical base has made him a global name, Rippon said the skater's current programmes took time for even enthusiastic observers to fully embrace.
"At first I didn't totally get the programmes that he has this year," Rippon said. "But now I'm on board, sold."
Rippon added Malinin is not only expanding what is possible on the ice but also testing the sport's scoring framework with the sheer volume and variety of quadruple jumps he can pack into a layout.
"He pushes the computers to their absolute limit. How many different kinds of quads can you add into one scoring system?" Rippon said.
With major competitions drawing increasing attention, Rippon was confident Malinin is built for the global stage and the scrutiny that comes with it.
"I really think that he thrives under the pressure, and he thrives with the attention," Rippon said.
"This is his moment."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in MilanEditing by Christian Radnedge)
