Who is Ilia Malinin’s Coach?

Ilia Malinin is an American figure skater. The fully turned quadruple axel is the most challenging figure skating leap, and Malinin is the first and only skater to execute it in an international competition. He accomplished the feat during the U.S. International Classic in 2022.

He was the 2022 World Junior champion and has two Junior Grand Prix golds. Malinin graduated from George C. Marshall High School in 2023. He currently attends the George Mason University School of Dance.

Iliia Malinin coaches

Lia Malinin was born in Fairfax, Virginia, on December 2, 2004, and started his senior career in 2021/22. He was born to Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, and they serve as his coaches, alongside Rafael Arutyunyan, as of July 2025.

READ MORE: Iliia Malinin parents

Tatiana Malinina

Malinina was born in Novosibirsk, Russian SFSR, on January 28, 1973. Her father was a figure skater, while her mother was a gymnast. Starting in 1993, Malinina participated in ten World Championships in a row. She placed eighth at the Nagano, Japan, Winter Olympics in 1998. She has won the 1999 Grand Prix Final, the 1999 Four Continents, the NHK Trophy twice (1998, 2001), and the Uzbek national championship 10 times (1993–2002). She won the ISU Skating Awards 2025's best coach award.

Roman Skorniakov

Skorniakov was the national champion of Uzbekistan from 1997 to 2003. He competed for Uzbekistan at the Winter Olympics in 1998 and 2002, placing 19th both times. In the 2000 and 2002 Four Continents Championships, he finished seventh, which was his best finish at an ISU Championship. In January 2000, Tatiana Malinina and Skorniakov were married. He won the ISU Skating Awards 2025's best coach award.

Rafael Arutyunyan

The figure skating instructor, Rafael Arutyunyan, is Armenian-American. He has demonstrated his coaching abilities in the US, Russia, and Armenia, among other nations.

Here are a few of his current students:

Chen Yudong (2023-Present): He is a three-time Chinese national champion from 2023-2025.

Petr Gumennik (2021–present): He won the silver medal in 2023 for Russia.

Ilia Malinin (2021–present): Ilia is a three-time U.S. national champion (2023–25), two-time World Champion (2024–25), 2022 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, 2022 Junior World Champion, and two-time World Champion (2023–25).

Camden Pulkinen (May 2022–present): He won a bronze medal at the 2024–2025 U.S. Nationals.

Here are a few of his former students:

Adam Rippon (September 2012–March 2018) won the U.S. national championship in 2016 and the bronze medal for the U.S. team at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Ashley Wagner (June 2013–March 2018) was a three-time U.S. national champion, a silver medalist in the 2016 World Championship, and a bronze medalist for the U.S. Team at the 2014 Winter Olympics.