Prince of Persia may be in a bad place after Ubisoft canceled its Sands of Time remake, but the video game series could nab a surprising prize this week: Olympic gold. Over the weekend, American figure skater Ilia Malinin performed a short program during the Winter Olympics figure skating Team Event, which was set in part to a song from the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown soundtrack.
Malinin, a figure skating sensation whose quadruple axel has earned him the nickname “Quad God,” is currently competing at the Olympic Winter Games in Milan. In addition to being an accomplished athlete at the age of 21, he’s also a noted gamer. You could probably glean as much from the outfits he skates in, which feel very video game-coded, but you could also hear that on display over the weekend if you listened closely enough.
For his short program this year, Malinin skated to a medley of music that culminated in “The Lost Crown” by 2WEI, Joznez, and Kataem. The rap track was created for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and appeared in the game’s debut trailer back in 2023. Lyrically, it’s a fitting song for an Olympic routine, with lyrics like “I only run with immortals.” It’s exactly what you’d expect someone with the nickname Quad God to skate to, but is nevertheless a surprising pick, a true deep cut: Although The Lost Crown was well-received by critics, publisher Ubisoft didn’t consider it a success, having disbanded the development team less than a year after release.
Malinin didn’t quite nail his performance, which you can watch in full here, on Feb. 7. He placed second behind Japanese skater Yuma Kagiyama after scoring an uncharacteristically low 98, but redeemed himself with a solid performance the next day to help Team USA secure a gold medal in the Team Event. He will get a second chance at victory this week: Malinin will perform the short program again on Feb. 10 as part of the Men’s Singles event.
It’s been a surprisingly nerdy Olympics all around this year. Commentators have talked about athletes’ love of Dungeons and Dragons, the Olympics website has an interview with Malinin where he talks about his gaming PC, and the broadcast featured a video package dedicated to figure skater Amber Glenn’s love of Magic the Gathering. The only thing that’s missing from Milan is a cameo from true Italian nerd royalty: Mario.
