MILAN — Ilia Malinin silenced any doubters of the self-styled “Quad God” on Tuesday night, when the American wunderkind threw down a near-perfect short program filled with high-flying jumps and a jaw-dropping backflip to take a big lead at the Milan Cortina Olympics.The two-time reigning world champion was rewarded with 108.16 points for his program, set to music from the action-adventure video game “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.” Yuma Kagiyama of Japan was second with 103.07 points, but that five-point difference going into the free skate is enormous given the huge technical advantage Malinin has over a longer program.Adam Siao Him Fa of France, the last skater to beat Malinin more than two years ago, was third with 102.55 points.Malinin was beaten by Kagiyama in the short program during the team competition last weekend, leaving many to wonder whether the overwhelming favorite for Olympic gold was letting the pressure get to him. But he bounced back in the free skate to beat Japan’s Shun Sato in a head-to-head battle, clinching a second straight gold for the U.S. and giving him a boost of momentum.He carried it into Tuesday night at the Milan Ice Skating Arena.Malinin opened with a big quad flip, landed a perfect triple axel — perhaps he is saving the quad axel that only he has ever landed for the free skate — and a quad lutz-triple toe loop combination that …
