{"id":9121,"date":"2026-02-24T11:20:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T11:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=9121"},"modified":"2026-02-24T11:20:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T11:20:45","slug":"the-ice-didnt-just-capture-a-childhood-memory-it-quietly-preserved-the-future-of-the-sport-americas-next-dynasty-emerges-long-before-world-titles-packed-arenas-and-deaf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=9121","title":{"rendered":"The ice didn\u2019t just capture a childhood memory \u2014 it quietly preserved the future of the sport. AMERICA\u2019S NEXT DYNASTY EMERGES! Long before world titles, packed arenas, and deafening applause, Alysa Liu and Ilia Malinin were just two fearless kids gliding side by side in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"83\"><strong data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"83\">From Tiny Blades to World Champions: The 2018 Moment No One Noticed \u2014 Until Now<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"83\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/mpx\/2704722219\/2025_03\/1743422288887_tdy_news_7a_figure_skaters_250331_1920x1080-xhv53e.jpg\" alt=\"Figure skaters Alysa Liu, Ilia Malinin talk world championship wins\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p data-start=\"85\" data-end=\"209\">Long before podium lights, national anthems, and the weight of global expectation, there were just two kids sharing the ice.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"85\" data-end=\"209\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gnds4xHaMAU60_Y.jpg\" alt=\"Look how far they've come \ud83e\udd79 2025 world champions Alysa Liu and Ilia Malinin .\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\"><\/div>\n<p data-start=\"211\" data-end=\"662\">As Olympic fans grow increasingly sentimental this season, a resurfaced set of childhood photos \u2014 and a quietly powerful video from\u00a0<strong data-start=\"343\" data-end=\"351\">2018<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 is striking an emotional chord across the skating world. In it,\u00a0<strong data-start=\"418\" data-end=\"459\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Alysa Liu<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong data-start=\"464\" data-end=\"505\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Ilia Malinin<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, now the\u00a0<strong data-start=\"515\" data-end=\"557\">2025 women\u2019s and men\u2019s World Champions<\/strong>, can be seen skating side by side as children, years before anyone could imagine what they would become.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DUe7AzGDcvh\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=675&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fnewsngay.com&amp;rp=%2Fanhtuyetbtv%2Fthe-ice-didnt-just-capture-a-childhood-memory-it-quietly-preserved-the-future-of-the-sport-americas-next-dynasty-emerges-long-before-world-titles-packed-arenas-and-deaf%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwY2xjawQK#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1555.4000000357628%2C%22ls%22%3A1121.5%2C%22le%22%3A1549.1000000238419%7D\" height=\"1084\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col text-sm pb-25\">\n<article class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" tabindex=\"-1\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:8a51672d-088b-4481-b121-5e6251e244b5-124\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-182\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\" data-turn=\"assistant\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"395b77ff-354d-4c6c-965b-faf8a218ef08\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-2\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[1px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full wrap-break-word dark markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"664\" data-end=\"784\">They are small. Focused. Unaware.<br data-start=\"697\" data-end=\"700\" \/>No titles. No pressure. Just blades carving the ice and dreams forming in real time.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"786\" data-end=\"1062\">The images \u2014 baby photos, early competition snapshots, grainy practice clips \u2014 feel almost surreal in hindsight. Back then, they were just young skaters chasing edges and balance. Today, they stand at the very top of the sport, symbols of a new American era in figure skating.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"786\" data-end=\"1062\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/northernvirginiamag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Ilia-Malinin-2025-credit-Ari-Zakarian.webp\" alt=\"Ilia Malinin Wins Second World Figure Skating Title\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1064\" data-end=\"1237\">What makes the 2018 video especially moving is what it\u00a0<em data-start=\"1119\" data-end=\"1128\">doesn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0show:<br data-start=\"1134\" data-end=\"1137\" \/>No hints of future dominance. No prophecy. Just two kids sharing space, unknowingly sharing history.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1239\" data-end=\"1505\">Fans watching now aren\u2019t just seeing champions \u2014 they\u2019re watching dreams come true in reverse. Every stumble, every awkward spin, every earnest glide suddenly matters. The Olympics and Worlds haven\u2019t just crowned winners; they\u2019ve turned childhood effort into legacy.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1507\" data-end=\"1582\">As one fan put it:\u00a0<em data-start=\"1526\" data-end=\"1582\">\u201cWe didn\u2019t just watch them win. We watched them grow.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Tiny Blades to World Champions: The 2018 Moment No One Noticed \u2014 Until Now Long before podium lights, national anthems, and the weight of global expectation,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9123,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9121\/revisions\/9123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}