Ilya Malinin

A sharp impact against the ice — Gumenik thought he even heard the crack of his own bones, hoping it was just a sound.

It all started with a regular practice session. Petya, sleep-deprived and reluctant to leave his room, had still laced up his dark skates and stepped onto the ice. He didn't care about anyone else, except for the fair-haired Ilia Malinin: the latter radiated confidence, jumping boldly and almost flawlessly. Even after the failure at the Olympics, where anxiety had left him in eighth place, Ilia now looked as precise as a robot. Petya watched and grew angry.

For the first time during practice, Ilia went for a quadruple Axel: a clean approach, the take-off, and a smooth landing. This infuriated Petya — he accelerated for his own quad flip, but too sharply. The turn, the jump, a loss of balance, and a horrific crash onto the hard ice. For a moment, Petya felt as if he had lost consciousness: emptiness in his head, ringing in his ears.

Ilia, stretching his neck after his jump, heard the crash and immediately skated over to the fallen skater. He dropped to his knees, shook Petya by the shoulder, and asked with a slight accent: "Hey? Are you okay? Open your eyes." Other skaters were calling for the coaches, while the neutral athlete, blinking, slowly looked up at Malinin, hardly understanding who was standing before him.