Big favorite of the event, the American Ilia Malinin once again triumphed in the final of the Grand Prix of figure skating, Saturday in Grenoble, where he once again demonstrated his extraordinary abilities.
Despite an unusual fall on his quadruple lutz in the first part of his free program, the outgoing world champion retained his title with a total score of 292.12 points.
But as is often the case, the American, who has just celebrated his 20th birthday, was not satisfied with victory. On Saturday, in his red and black sequined costume evoking a vampire, he above all became the first skater in history to attempt during his program the six different quadruple jumps that exist in skating: the quadruple axel, its flagship element , but also the loop, the toe loop, the flip, the lutz and the salchow.
“Before coming here, I wanted to challenge myself on my technical abilities, in addition to trying to incorporate the artistic elements that I have been working on in recent years. So the challenge was to try to put everything in the same program and see how it would go”he explained.
Even though he was beaten by the Japanese Yuma Kagiyama in the free, he said he “very proud” of its program. “It was a bit of a test to see what I can improve for future competitions”he added.
Malinin also punctuated his performance with a spectacular somersault, a movement now authorized which delighted the spectators at the Pôle sud ice rink in Grenoble.
Future star of the Games?
At the end of the two programs, second place went to Kagiyama, rewarded with 281.78 points after a wild flamenco performance. Another Japanese, Shun Sato, completes the podium with 270.82 points. Since bursting onto the international scene in 2022, Malinin has established himself as the new phenomenon of world skating and has everything to be the star of the next Winter Olympics in 14 months in Italy. He had already marked his sport by becoming the first man to achieve a quadruple axel, the most difficult jump in skating, in competition and regularly repeats his desire to innovate and “push the limits” of his sport.
The only French representative in the men's category after Adam Siao Him Fa withdrew due to injury, Kevin Aymoz finished 6th and last with 238.63 points, very far from his best scores. The American team had a particularly successful final day of competition with the victories of Amber Glenn in the women's race and Madison Chock and Evan Bates in ice dancing.
With 212.07 points, Glenn won ahead of a quintet of Japanese women, including the favorite Kaori Sakamoto. At 25, she confirms her rise to the forefront, having not won any international title before this season.
READ ALSO. Skating. American Amber Glenn wins Grand Prix final, Kaori Sakamoto third
Sakamoto beaten
She becomes the first American skater to win the event, the third most important competition in skating after the Olympics and the World Championships, since Alissa Czisny in 2010.
For his part, Sakamoto had to settle for third place. The three-time reigning world champion had not been beaten in a major competition since the 2022 Grand Prix final.
In ice dancing, Chock and Bates, double outgoing world champions, beat the Italians Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri, while the British Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, with their infectious energy, took third place thanks to a free dance inspired by Beyoncé hits (205.18 pts).
For their first participation in a Grand Prix final, an event which brings together the six best representatives of each discipline, the French Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud finished sixth and last.
“More and more, we are getting closer to the top teams”welcomed Brissaud. “We are very happy with what we gave, it is the direction in which we want to go. »
