PRAGUE (AP) — Ilia Malinin is back on the top step of the podium.
Six weeks after a disastrous free skate knocked the Olympic gold-medal favorite off the podium, the “quad god” reeled off one huge jump after another, and a backflip for good measure, to retain his world championship title for the third year running.
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Yuma Kagiyama from Japan reacts after seeing his score during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Yuma Kagiyama from Japan reacts at the end of his routine during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Ilia Malinin from the United States reacts while awaiting his scores during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Ilia Malinin from the United States competes during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Ilia Malinin from the United States reacts at the end of his routine during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Malinin shouted and punched the air with relief after finishing a skate that showed he had achieved his desire to “move on” from the Olympics after days tormented by his mistakes.
He praised the crowd's support, saying: “It was really challenging, really hard but with you guys I was able to make it through.” His aim, he added, had simply been to get through the free skate “in one piece."
Skating last after leading the short program, just as he did in Milan, Malinin landed five high-scoring quadruple jumps but not his pioneering quad axel, a jump he didn't attempt at the Olympics.
Malinin said that he came to the worlds with a fresh mindset after all the pressure from the Olympics was over. His goal was to “enjoy every moment on the ice and just have fun out there.”
“Going here I felt like there was almost no pressure at all,” he said. “I just completely blocked out all the expectations, all the pressure that people put on me and was really here to escape for myself and enjoy every moment of these world championships.”
Malinin scored 218.11 in the free skate for a total 329.40, far ahead of silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan on 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was third on 288.54.
Kagiyama beat his personal-best free skate score but still had to make do with a fourth career world championship silver in a career which includes four Olympic silvers and five total worlds medals, but no gold from either event. He still embraced Malinin after his skate and they jumped together in celebration.
Being second again was not a big deal for Kagiyama.
After a disappointing performance at the free skate at the Olympics, he said “I came here solely focused on finishing the event with a satisfying performance,” adding that “I’m relieved that I was finally able to achieve that goal.”
In a showcase of top-level skating, there was no podium spot for France's Adam Siao Him Fa, who had been in second after the short program but dropped to fifth overall after a fall. Estonia's Aleksandr Selevko also fell dropped from third to sixth.
Malinin had no rematch with Mikhail Shaidorov, the skater from Kazakhstan who won the Olympic gold, because he opted against competing again this season.
That's relatively common in figure skating for gold medal winners who face a rush of media and commercial opportunities after a grueling four-year Olympic buildup.
Malinin becomes the first skater to win three consecutive men's world titles since fellow American Nathan Chen, who achieved the feat in 2018, 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The last competition of the championships is the free dance portion of the ice dance event later Saturday. France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron are in the lead after Friday's rhythm dance.
Ellingworth reported from Duesseldorf, Germany.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Yuma Kagiyama from Japan reacts after seeing his score during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Yuma Kagiyama from Japan reacts at the end of his routine during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Ilia Malinin from the United States reacts while awaiting his scores during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Ilia Malinin from the United States competes during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Ilia Malinin from the United States reacts at the end of his routine during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the month-old war in the Middle East on Saturday, claiming a missile launch that Israel said it intercepted. Pakistan said regional powers plan to meet Sunday to discuss how to end the fighting, while Iran expressed skepticism about the diplomatic efforts. And about 2,500 U.S. Marines arrived in the region.
The war has threatened global supplies of oil, natural gas and fertilizer and disrupted air travel. Iran’s grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices. The United States and Israel continue to strike Iran, whose retaliatory attacks have targeted Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states. Over 3,000 people have been killed.
The Houthis’ entry could further hurt global shipping if they again target vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s trade typically passes.
There could be limited relief in sight after Iran on Friday agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the Strait of Hormuz following a request from the United Nations. U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has given Iran until April 6 to reopen the strait.
Witnesses in Tehran reported heavy strikes late Saturday. Israel's military earlier said it targeted Iran's naval weapons production facilities, and asserted that it would finish attacking essential weapons production sites within “a few days." Iran fired missiles toward Israel. The U.S. said it has struck over 11,000 Iranian targets in the war.
And Ukraine's president visited Gulf nations as his country offers defense help with drones.
Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on the rebels' Al-Masirah satellite television station that they launched missiles toward “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel.
If the Houthis increase attacks on commercial shipping, as they have in the past, it would further push up oil prices and destabilize “all of maritime security,” said Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group. “The impact would not be limited to the energy market.”
The Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is crucial for vessels heading to the Suez Canal through the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia has been sending millions of barrels of crude oil a day through it because the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed.
Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels, between November 2023 and January 2025, saying it was attacking in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza during the war there between Israel and Hamas.
The Houthis' latest involvement would complicate the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the aircraft carrier that arrived in Croatia on Saturday for repairs. Sending it to the Red Sea could draw attacks similar to those on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2024 and the USS Harry S. Truman in 2025.
The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014. Saudi Arabia launched a war against the Houthis on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government in 2015, and they now have an uneasy ceasefire.
Pakistan said Saturday that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will send top diplomats to Islamabad for talks aimed at ending the war, arriving Sunday for a two-day visit for “in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions."
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held “extensive discussions” on regional hostilities.
But the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told his Turkish counterpart by phone that Tehran was skeptical about recent diplomatic efforts. Iranian state-run media said Araghchi accused the United States of making “unreasonable demands” and exhibiting “contradictory actions.”
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has said Washington delivered a 15-point “action list” to Iran for a possible ceasefire, with a proposal to restrict Iran’s nuclear program — the issue at the heart of tensions with the U.S and Israel — and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran rejected it and presented a five-point proposal that included reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the waterway.
Meanwhile, U.S. ships with some 2,500 Marines trained in amphibious landings have arrived, adding to the largest U.S. force in the region in over 20 years. And at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne, trained to land in hostile territory to secure key positions and airfields, have been ordered to the Middle East.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. “can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops.”
More than two dozen U.S. troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base in the past week, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at the base Friday, injuring at least 15 troops, including five seriously, they said.
The base, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, came under attack twice earlier in the week, including a strike that wounded 14 U.S. troops, according to the people briefed on the matter.
Over 300 U.S. service members have been wounded in the war. At least 13 have been reported killed.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
In Lebanon, where Israel has started an invasion in the south, officials said more than 1,100 people have been killed since the start of the war.
In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died.
In Gulf states, 20 people have been killed and four others in the occupied West Bank.
Magdy reported from Cairo and Madhani from Washington. Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Cara Anna in Lowville, New York, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed.
The mother of Jawad Younes,11, who was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike, mourns over his body during a funeral procession in Saksakiyeh village, south Lebanon, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Residents carry personal belongings as they leave a building damaged in a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
Abed Driss, displaced with his family from Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, holds up his son Benin, 3 months, next to a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A first responder assists an injured boy following a strike that hit a residential building amid the U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sajad Safari)
A member of the Iranian Red Crescent Society stands at Hypercar, an auto service center, amid damages which according to the company's officials were caused by strikes on March 1, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mourners carry the coffin of Jawad Younes, 11, who was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike, as they shout slogans during a funeral procession in Saksakiyeh village, south Lebanon, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A view of the damages at Hypercar, an auto service center, which according to the company's officials were caused by strikes on March 1, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People donate money following a call by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to support Iran and Lebanon during the war with the U.S. and Israel, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Babylon, Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
Displaced women reach out to receive an aid package distributed by a volunteer in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
People donate money following a call by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to support Iran and Lebanon during the war with the U.S. and Israel, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Babylon, Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
Israeli first responders remove the body of a person from the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
Residents look on as first responders work at the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
An Israeli first responder walks from the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
