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But repeated practice mutes that reflex for skaters like Ilia Malinin, the American who was the first person to land a quadruple axel in competition and whose 2024 World Championship free skate score was the highest ever.

Valieva, then 15, finished fourth with a mistake-filled free skate under intense pressure from the legal issues.

The ISU removed Valieva’s points — a maximum 10 for her team in each of the short program and free skate — but did not add a point to the tally of other teams who subsequently rose in the event standings.

She completed seven triple jumps without a single negative grade of execution from any of the nine judges; though she did a triple flip-double axel-double axel sequence instead of a triple-triple combination, she racked up 138.85 points, a personal best and three points better than Glenn’s free skate routine.

But I had no idea that I had won the free skate until afterward.