Olympic figure skater Ilia Malinin visits Charlottesville, meets fans at DICK’S House of Sport

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - People waited in line Sunday morning for hours to meet one of the most popular faces from the 2026 Winter Olympics, Ilia Malinin.

Malinin had never been to Charlottesville before. He said he was excited to see new parts of Virginia.

“I feel like now might be a good time for me to try to see what Virginia’s all about,” Malinin said. “So, coming here to this House of Sport, I think it’s really fun and part of that starting process of, you know, really exploring where I am and getting to meet, you know, all the people around here and really just understanding how big of an impact that I’m making.”

Fans received an autograph and picture with the gold medalist. Malinin said he was appreciative of those who took the time to meet him and showed an interest in figure skating.

“For those people, I want to thank them very much that they decided to follow me and choose the path that I want to go to and to want to try figure skating for itself, it’s really a fun experience,” he said.

For some fans, like Michael Jones and Jonas Johnson, it was a surreal experience to meet the Olympian.

“I’m still shook. It was such an experience and I’m so grateful,” Jones said.

“I was shaking when I went to shake his hand and I’m honestly never going to wash it ever,” Johnson said. “Like one of the greatest moments of my life. Honestly, like I’m so happy. I’m so happy.”

That appreciation is not lost on Malinin.

“It always brings me joy seeing that, you know, you have support and appreciation and love from people that are not just your parents or your friends, that it could be like a complete stranger, but to you, you really mean something big to them,” Malinin said. “That’s something that I really take for granted and it’s something that I’ll never forget.”

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