U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin soared to first place in the Men’s Short Program on Thursday at the 2026 ISU Figure Skating World Championships, edging out former European champion Adam Siao Him Fa and Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko in second and third, respectively.

Delivering a personal-best score to take a staggering lead, Malinin returned to dominance after an uncharacteristic effort in Milan-Cortina. “(Ilia Malinin) is back… but he never really went anywhere,” commentator Tanith White reflected.

In a “showcase of a human journey,” Malinin triumphed over his mental woes from Milan-Cortina in Prague, nearly 33 years after his mother, Tatyana Malinina, made her World Championships debut in the same central European city.

Winning the short program by a whopping 10 points, Malinin enters Saturday’s free skate in prime position to win his third-straight world title. If Malinin can execute the win, he’ll become the first American since Nathan Chen to win three-straight world championshipt titles.

All three American skaters excelled in Thursday’s short program, with 2026 Olympian Andrew Torgashev and rookie Jacob Sanchez also posting personal bests to qualify in the top ten.

Men’s competition concludes with the free skate, slated for Saturday, March 28. Fans can stream the action live on Peacock, beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Watch the video below.

Men’s Short Program Results (Top 10):

Ilia Malinin (United States): 111.29

Adam Siao Him Fa (France): 101.85

Aleksandr Selevko (Estonia): 96.49

Shun Sato (Japan): 95.84

Stephen Gogolev (Canada): 94.38

Yuma Kagiyama (Japan): 93.80

Andrew Torgashev (United States): 89.07

Daniel Grassl (Italy): 88.53

Lukas Britschgi (Switzerland): 88.30

Jacob Sanchez (United States): 85.15