Irvine’s Olympic Connection Runs Through Figure Skating
Wondering who to watch at the Winter Olympics? Irvine athletes are gearing up to compete at the highest levels in the Milano Cortina Winter Games.
Team USA figure skaters Andrew Torgashev and Ilia Malinin both train at Great Park Ice & FivePoint Arena, making Irvine an important stop on their road to compete in Milan.
Andrew Torgashev
Andrew Torgashev trains at Great Park Ice in Irvine with legendary coach and soon-to-be Skating Hall of Fame inductee Rafael Arutyunyan. Photo credit Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating
Andrew Torgashev, 24, earned silver at the most recent U.S. Figure Skating Championships and has now finished second at consecutive national championships. He also captured bronze at the 2024 Grand Prix de France. Torgashev trains full time at Great Park Ice under renowned coach Rafael Arutyunyan, along with Brandon Frazier, a 2022 world pairs champion.
Ilia Malinin
Ilia Malinin, who will skate for Team USA, trained partially at Great Park Ice in Irvine. Photo credit Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating
Ilia Malinin, 21, captured his fourth consecutive U.S. title this season and is a two-time world champion. He has also won three straight Grand Prix Final titles and made history by becoming the first skater to land seven quadruple jumps in a single program at the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan. Malinin is also the only skater to land a fully rotated quadruple Axel in international competition.
Malinin is coached by his parents, Roman Skornyakov and Tatyana Malinina (both former Olympic figure skaters for Uzbekistan) and also receives virtual and in-person coaching from Arutyunyan at Great Park Ice.
With the Milano Cortina Winter Games now underway, Irvine isn’t just watching from afar. Andrew Torgashev and Ilia Malinin’s training at Great Park Ice places the city squarely within the Olympic pipeline, connecting a local rink to the highest level of international competition.
Check out upcoming figure skating events here.