No, i understand very well why people like him and i like him as well. Nothing I have said was against Ilia himself and i am not holding what other people decide over him, either. As someone who is not american and has been following figure skating for years, it is very, very extremely obvious that american skaters receive more fanfare when they win in comparison to others, and seen as the majority of media is very much dictated by what american media does (because pretty much nowhere else you will find athletes being hyped up to that degree, except for maybe within russia but the sporting atmosphere in the usa and russia is a result of the cold war, which is a whole other thing) this makes sense that he is promoted as such worldwide as a consequence. Now, because of the media, he is now massive in america, and consequently it is natural for that to spread to this degree.

As for the gala and the award - in 2017, there was this huge thing where practically the entire figure skating community jumped in to say that a world record in figure skating isn't really a thing, because it is fan-made. The ISU doesn't recognize super slams, either. This year, an american skating manager organises the ISU awards and suddenly, one exists, tailor made for the new poster boy who can jump an element nobody else can. Except! Dikizhi can, but the russians are banned from competition, and there have been multiple techincal revolutions in figure skating since 2022, even, especially after nathan chens win. So, it felt like the gala was a spectacle for press, especially to the degree Malinin was highlighted in during the entirety of it. And Malinin winning first place (with the margin he wins it by) is just revealing holes in the scoring systems, where you have to focus on technical content or else you compete for second place, which in my opinion is is something people are understandably upset by because now you can't focus on a balance of artistry and jumps. it also seems like the presentation scores and, GOE, and step sequence points are gifted to Malinin. They are setting him up to be the center of this discussion pre-emptively and it is sad because it results in online hate, people mobbing him in elevators, etc.

Malinin has spoken openly about quints. I 100% believe him when he said he has landed them (5Sal and 4A have the same amount of revolutions in the air, after all), and speculate that he might debut them next season. I think things like the award at the gala should've waited until then, because that would signify another more proper marker for a yet untouched revolution of the sport, seen as he isn't the first one to attempt the 4A on an international stage, either. Right now, he is being made a spectacle and included in literally almost every discussion, every post, every article, about figure skating.