The Associated Press ST. LOUIS — Ilia Malinin won his fourth consecutive U.S. Figure Skating title on Saturday night, capping the last national championships before the Milan Cortina Olympics with his usual unparalleled flair but a dialed-back version of the world champion’s high-flying jum ps. Malinin scaled back a free skate that could include as many as seven quads, going for just three — still more than anyone else in the competition. He finished with 324.88 points, extending an unbeaten streak that stretches back more than two years. “I decided not to go for any risks. I wanted to play it safe, because hopefully in a few weeks I have to go again,” Malinin said. Andrew Torgashev finished second with a season-best free skate that produced a total of 267.62 points, while Maxim Naumov earned the bronze medal with 249.16 points, and may have fulfilled the wishes of his late parents by making the Olympic team. They were among those killed when a plane collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac River in January 2025. U.S. Figure Skating will announce the team headed to Italy on Sunday. “I gritted my teeth on everything. I fought on everything. If I had to crawl, I would crawl to the end,” Naumov said, “but I made it.” Earlier in the night, Madison Chock and Evan Bates won a record-setting seventh U.S. title with a flamenco-style free dance set to a version of the Rolling Stones hit “Paint It Black” from the dystopian sci-fi Western show “Westworld.” Chock and Bates, the three-time reigning world champions, wound up with 228.87 points. Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik were second with 213.65 and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko were third with 206.95. “The feeling that we got from the audience today was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before,” said Chock, who along with Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, but finished a disappointing fourth in the ice dance. They’ll be the heavy favorites to win gold next month in Italy. ...read more read less