Ilia Malinin competes in the men's free skate at the Grand Prix Final on December 7 in Grenoble, France. (©Denis Balibouse/REUTERS)
Read the full story on SportsLook - Ilia Malinin Defends Grand Prix Final Title; Yuma Kagiyama Finishes 2nd
American Ilia Malinin won the Grand Prix Final for the second straight year on Saturday night, December 7, in Grenoble, France, despite having major jump issues in his free skate. Holding a big lead after the short program enabled the 20-year-old Malinin to hang on and get the victory.
Malinin's winning total score was 292.12 points, more than 10 ahead of Yuma Kagiyama in second with 281.78. Shun Sato moved up from fourth after the short program to come in third at 270.82.
Italy's Daniel Grassl was fourth with 254.96, while Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov finished fifth at 253.75. France's Kevin Aymoz wound up sixth on 238.63.
Malinin Slumps in Free Skate Routine
Malinin skated to "I'm Not A Vampire" and had an uncharacteristically poor performance. He fell on a quadruple lutz, under-rotated three jumps, and was judged a quarter rotation short on four others. Malinin attempted seven quads in all but did not land a single one cleanly.
The so-called "Quad God" made history by becoming the first skater to attempt seven quads and six different kinds of quads in a single program.
"Going into the Grand Prix Final I wanted to challenge myself with my technical ability as well as try to incorporate the artistry that I've been working on through the past few seasons," Malinin stated. "I think it was a kind of a challenge for me to want to come out here and try to put everything into one program and see how it goes."
Added Malinin, "It was not what I wanted but I am still proud of myself. I try to create something new even though at the very beginning it can look weird and unsure. The biggest challenge is to try to make everything consistent and as clean as possible and to put technical aspects and artistry together."
Kagiyama Triumphs in the Free Skate
The 21-year-old Kagiyama competed to "Ameska" and "Romanza" and won the free skate (188.29) by landing three clean quads and five triples. He could have made the final margin closer had he not doubled a planned quad salchow and earned only level threes on two of his spins and step sequence.
"It's actually the second time I came to Grenoble, so it was kind of nostalgic to come back here," Kagiyama commented. "The French public was very enthusiastic and it helped me enjoy even more performing here."
Added Kagiyama, "I regret that even though I was able to do all the elements of my program during my training, I couldn't do them as well as I wished today because I was so tense. Hope to learn to control my emotions better so not to be so tense."
Continue reading the full story, which also includes reporting on the Junior Grand Prix Final, on SportsLook.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
