The figure skating season for three-time world champion Ilia Malinin is over, but the rumors season is just beginning for the “Quad God” and his peers.

At the World Championships in Prague, Malinin shook off a disappointing end to the Winter Olympic Games and proved why he went two years without losing a single competition, blowing out the competition to win his third straight men’s individual figure skating world title.

But that somehow wasn’t the biggest news over the weekend involving Malinin.

At the International Skating Union’s end-of-year awards, all of the top skaters from the World Championships attended, taking photos on the red carpet before heading into the venue to see who would win awards at the ceremony.

Malinin took photos with many of his friends before entering the show, but one photo garnered more attention than any other he took at the awards ceremony.

On Monday, the 21-year-old American and 20-year-old South Korean figure skater Lee Hae-in shared a post on Instagram together, the two posing for a photo at the event.

The two have been seen multiple times hanging out during the Olympics and now at the World Championships, sparking buzz that they could be in a relationship.

Coincidentally, they both finished eighth in their respective individual competitions at the Olympics. Lee finished 13th at Worlds, whereas Malinin took the aforementioned gold in the men’s division.

So is this a confirmation? Bc it seems to be a hard launch pic.twitter.com/l2nScraOAG

— Couf  (@spinninglutz) March 30, 2026

_blockParagraph__I2kr4″>Although not officially confirmed, fans believe this could be the “hard launch” of the pair’s relationship.

Malinin, though in the offseason, won’t be off the ice for long, as he will be a part of the “Stars on Ice” tour starting next month alongside the likes of fellow American stars Alysa Liu (who missed Worlds) and Amber Glenn.