Ilia Malinin has 3-peated.

The 21-year-old U.S. figure skater won his third straight world championship Saturday in Prague, scoring 329.40 points to win gold by a margin of 22.73 over Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama. Shun Sato also secured Japan a bronze medal.

Malinin becomes the first skater to win three consecutive world titles since Nathan Chen did it from 2018-2021. The 21-year-old is also the youngest to win three championships since Russia’s Alexei Yagudin in 2000, and he’s the second-youngest American to claim three after Dick Button did it at the age of 20.

Malinin’s triumph also serves as a redemption arc after being the gold-medal favorite in the Milan Olympics last month and finishing eighth. He landed five quads in the free skate as part of a routine that featured a lower degree of jump difficulty compared to his Olympic performance. Malinin also declined to attempt his trademark quad axel.

“My expectation was to leave the long program in one piece, and I definitely think that happened,” he said after the victory.

When asked if he intentionally chose a safer routine, Malinin responded: “A better answer to that question is, this has been time for me to relax and enjoy the last competition of the season.”

Malinin also enjoyed a return to his winning form after his 14-competition win streak, the longest stretch in men’s skating in decades, stalled out in Milan.

“This was probably one of the easier world championships I’ve been to, just because of the amount (of) pressure I had at the Olympics. And going into here, I felt like it was almost no pressure at all,” he said. “I completely blocked out all the expectations, all the pressure that people put on me and was really here to skate for myself and enjoy every moment of these world championships, and I think I did exactly that.”

Malinin’s success in the world championship could mean he’s destined for further redemption at the next Winter Olympics. Every U.S. men’s singles skater who’s won three-plus world titles has also won an Olympic gold, including Button (1948, ‘52), Hayes Alan Jenkins (1956), David Jenkins (1960), Scott Hamilton (1984) and Chen (2022).

–Field Level Media

WASHINGTON — After proving their mental fortitude in the Sweet 16, Cameron Boozer’s No. 1 seeded Duke Blue Devils will try to defeat this decade’s most successful program when they meet the No. 2 UConn Huskies in Sunday’s NCAA East Regional final.

Boozer has posted double-doubles in all three tournament games for Duke (35-2) to continue a season that has made the freshman forward the Naismith Award favorite.

Meanwhile, his Blue Devils teammates have gotten healthier.

In Friday’s 80-75 victory over St. John’s, junior guard Caleb Foster willed himself back to action 20 days after sustaining a right foot fracture and scored all 11 of his points after halftime to help his team overcome a 10-point deficit.

“First time playing in a few weeks, he’s sore and recovering like you would expect, but nothing concerning,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “We want him to just continue to be himself, his leadership, his ability to get downhill, just making plays himself and really more of what he did yesterday.”

Center Patrick Ngonba II has also been able to provide minutes off the bench in the last two games after he missed about three weeks with right foot soreness.

At a program that frequently re-loads with NBA Draft Lottery-bound talent like Boozer, that duo provides precious experience from last year’s Final Four squad. So does sophomore guard Isaiah Evans, who had his best game of the tournament with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting to lead Duke’s rally against the Red Storm.

“Just being able to insert our names in history definitely means a lot,” said Evans of possibly reaching consecutive Final Fours. “Like you said, a lot of people haven’t done that. With Duke having the history it has, to be one of the people that did something different, it means a lot to me.”

As impressive as Scheyer’s three consecutive Elite Eight appearances are in four seasons as Mike Krzyzewski’s successor, it’s Dan Hurley’s Huskies (32-5) who are seeking a third national title in four years.

And to limit Boozer, Hurley will lean on senior center Tarris Reed Jr., who has stepped up a level this tournament.

“I think with Tarris or any player, I think just at some point you hope that the light switch comes on in time,” Hurley said. “Maybe it’s the life or death urgency to this time of year. … When he plays at the level that he’s capable of playing at, we can beat any team in the country, and he’s as good as any center in the country.”

Reed posted double-doubles in both games of the opening weekend, including career bests with 31 points and 27 rebounds in a first-round win over Furman. It was the first time a player had 30-plus points and 25-plus rebounds in the same NCAA Tournament game since Houston legend Elvin Hayes in 1968.

Against Michigan State, Reed was more clutch than dominant, scoring 20 points and sinking four consecutive late free throws to ice the contest, but making less of a rebounding impact against a Spartans team that dominated the glass.

On Sunday, it may be more about limiting Boozer rather than outplaying him.

“Be disciplined, stay long, and make him stay over the length,” Reed said.” Make it as difficult as possible for him to score in the post.”

–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media

Andrew McCutchen and the Texas Rangers rebounded after a late collapse to post a 5-4, 10-inning victory over the host Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

Corey Seager and Jake Burger hit early home runs for Texas, which lost Thursday’s season opener 5-3 but rallied in this one to give Skip Schumaker his first win as Rangers manager.

Brandon Marsh notched the game-tying hit in the ninth for Philadelphia, which then had an opportunity to win it in the 10th after allowing two runs in the top half of the frame.

Texas reliever Tyler Alexander hit Otto Kemp to open the 10th, putting runners on first and second. With two outs, Bryce Harper’s single made it 5-4 and brought the winning run to the plate. But Alexander got Alec Bohm to pop out to end it.

With Philadelphia trailing 3-0, Bohm singled with two outs in the ninth against Robert Garcia, who then walked Edmundo Sosa to bring the tying run to the plate.

Chris Martin (1-0) came on and appeared to have retired Adolis Garcia, but Burger dropped a wind-swept foul ball that would have ended it. Two pitches later, Garcia flared a double into left to score Bohm.

The next batter was Marsh, who lined a hit into right-center to tie it at 3-3.

The Rangers promptly bounced back against Jhoan Duran (0-1) in the 10th, scoring the go-ahead run on a wild pitch and then tacking on an insurance run on McCutchen’s two-out base hit.

Phillies starter Aaron Nola gave up three runs and five hits over five innings, walking two and striking out seven. He allowed a solo homer to Seager in the first inning and a two-run shot to Burger in the third.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia did not manage a hit against spot starter Jacob Latz, who got the nod because Jacob deGrom woke up Saturday with a stiff neck. Latz allowed just two baserunners – an error and a walk – and struck out three in four scoreless innings.

The Phillies got their first hit in the fifth when J.T. Realmuto reached on an infield single against reliever Cole Winn, but they didn’t manage another hit until there were two outs in the ninth.

–Field Level Media