In Italy in February, he was widely expected to secure one of the most obvious Olympic gold medals, but after several major mistakes in the final, Ilia Malinin finished eighth.
When it was time for the World Cup final on Saturday in Prague, he didn't hold back and his competitors had no chance. The Quadruple God - as he is called - landed several clean quadruple jumps, and Malinin also performed his patented backflip.
He was awarded 218.11 points for his free program, finishing with a total of 329.4 points - just under 23 points ahead of second-place finisher Yuma Kagiyama of Japan (306.67). Shun Sato of Japan finished third (288.54).
Just like at the World Championships last year, Andreas Nordebäck finished in 17th place (total 224.66 points) after making it to the final as the 24th and last skater.
