The question echoes through arenas and across social media whenever figure skating reaches its pinnacle: who deserves the title of greatest male figure skater of all time? As the sport evolves at a breathtaking pace, pushing the boundaries of what seems humanly possible, three names have come to dominate this conversation during the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy.
Each represents a different era and philosophy of skating. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, the poetic champion who captured consecutive Olympic gold medals. Nathan Chen of the United States, the technical virtuoso who achieved perfection when it mattered most. And Ilia Malinin, the 21-year-old American phenomenon who is rewriting the rulebook of technical possibility. While two have already claimed Olympic glory, the third enters Friday's competition undefeated for more than two years, seeking to cement his legacy with his first Olympic title.
The case for Malinin begins with numbers that seem almost fictional. In an age where quadruple jumps separate contenders from pretenders, he has elevated the conversation to unprecedented heights. The young American has successfully landed seven quadruple jumps within one free skate program, a milestone that coaches and analysts once considered beyond human capability. His most astonishing achievement remains the quadruple axel—a jump so difficult that for decades it existed only in theoretical discussions. Malinin is the only competitor in history to execute it successfully in competition, and speculation swirls that he may attempt it again in his final skate on Friday.
At just 21, Malinin has already collected four consecutive national championships, a streak that suggests dominance extending far into the future. His skating represents a new paradigm: athletic supremacy that treats gravity and physics as suggestions rather than limitations. When he takes the ice, the atmosphere shifts to something resembling a heavyweight boxing match—big moves, roaring crowds, pure spectacle. Yet this technical brilliance comes with questions about the artistic components that traditionally define the sport's soul.
Nathan Chen's claim to greatness rests on a different foundation: the perfect Olympic moment. His journey from disappointment to redemption provides one of figure skating's most compelling narratives. The 2018 PyeongChang Games delivered a nightmare short program that left him in seventeenth place, effectively eliminating his medal chances despite a subsequent free skate that ranked among the best ever performed. That failure forged a champion of rare determination.
Four years later in Beijing, Chen delivered a performance for the ages. His short program earned 113.97 points, a world record that still stands, building an insurmountable lead. He won the gold medal by a staggering 20-point margin, transforming his narrative from fallen favorite to dominant champion. This single Olympic peak represents perhaps the most technically perfect competition in men's skating history. While Malinin has since surpassed some of Chen's technical achievements in other venues, he has yet to replicate that level of dominance on Olympic ice. Until Friday's results prove otherwise, Chen maintains his title as the skater with the highest peak performance.
Yet the GOAT conversation cannot be reduced to technical elements alone. Yuzuru Hanyu's argument transcends scores and medals, reaching into the realm of artistry that defines figure skating's essence. The Japanese icon stands alone as the only male skater in the modern era to win consecutive Olympic gold medals, a feat achieved by only two others in history. This consistency at the sport's highest level forms the bedrock of his legacy.
Where Malinin and Chen have pushed technical boundaries, Hanyu mastered the intangible qualities that transform athletic exercise into art. His performances blend musicality, emotional expression, and creative interpretation in ways that leave audiences and judges alike mesmerized. Every movement serves the program's narrative; every gesture carries purpose. While his rivals may execute more rotations in the air, Hanyu creates moments that linger in memory long after scores are posted.
The technical gap between Hanyu and his successors is undeniable. Both Chen and Malinin have surpassed his jump content and base value. However, the Program Components Score—the evaluation of skating skills, transitions, performance, composition, and interpretation—reveals Hanyu's true dominance. In these artistic metrics, he remains the standard against which all others are measured. Chen has retired from competition, while Malinin continues developing these aspects of his skating. For now, Hanyu's complete package of technical mastery and artistic brilliance remains unmatched.
Comparing these three legends requires acknowledging that greatness manifests differently. Malinin represents the future—a skater who treats previously impossible jumps as routine. His career suggests a decade of dominance built on technical supremacy that may eventually include artistic growth. The question surrounding him is whether his sky-high technical base can integrate the artistic depth that defines the sport's greatest champions.
Chen embodies the perfect competitor—an athlete who learned from failure and achieved absolute perfection when the world watched most closely. His Olympic performance set a benchmark for technical excellence under pressure. While his competitive career has ended, that single peak performance continues to define what is possible in a single competition.
Hanyu, meanwhile, represents the complete skater—someone who maintained world-class technical ability while elevating the artistic components to unprecedented levels. His back-to-back Olympic titles demonstrate consistency across four years of competition, while his influence on the sport extends beyond medals to inspire a generation of skaters worldwide.
The subjective nature of the GOAT debate ultimately depends on which criteria matter most. If pure technical advancement defines greatness, Malinin's trajectory suggests he will soon stand alone. If Olympic peak performance is the standard, Chen's Beijing masterpiece remains the gold standard. If overall impact, consistency, and artistic mastery form the foundation, Hanyu's legacy appears unassailable.
Friday's competition may shift these calculations. Should Malinin successfully land his quadruple axel and claim Olympic gold, he would take a significant step toward building a comprehensive legacy. Yet even victory would leave him chasing Hanyu's artistic standard and Chen's perfect Olympic score. The beauty of this debate lies in its lack of a definitive answer—three skaters, three philosophies, three paths to greatness.
Figure skating's evolution from art form to athletic spectacle and back again creates space for multiple GOATs depending on perspective. Perhaps the true answer is that each champion represents the ideal of his era: Hanyu the artistic pinnacle of his time, Chen the technical perfectionist, and Malinin the boundary-breaking future. Rather than declaring one supreme, we might celebrate how these three athletes have collectively elevated their sport to heights previously unimaginable.
As the music plays and the jumps are landed in Milan, the debate will continue. Greatness, after all, is not always measured in scores but in the inspiration left behind for those who follow.