Prague (AFP) – Ilia Malinin pulled off a stunning short programme on Thursday, a month after his Winter Olympics collapse, to boost his hopes of a third consecutive world figure skating title. The 21-year-old American slumped to an eighth-place finish at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, having led after the short programme in Italy.
But in his first competition since, Malinin hit a quadruple flip, triple Axel and quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination to score a personal best 111.29 points for his skate to a medley from “The Lost Crown” video game. Malinin, who finished his routine with a beaming smile on his face, takes a 9.44-point lead over France’s Adam Siao Him Fa into Saturday’s free skate. Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko is in third place. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, the silver medallist at the last two Olympics, is sitting sixth after falling on the takeoff of a planned triple Axel.
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The world championships in Prague are taking place just a month after the Olympics where Malinin had been the overwhelming favourite. The undefeated star of skating for over two years had been leading after the short programme before crumbling under the pressure in the free skate. “A lot of the times, I’ll try to find anything positive in whatever outcome or whatever situation happens,” said Malinin. “So, also realising that it’s done. There’s nothing I could have done to change it. I don’t have a time machine to go back.”
“Maybe in a few years we’ll have one, who knows. But, a lot of the time, I just look at it, it’s done. I just have to move on and keep going.”
Siao Him Fa had a similar experience in Italy after a perfectly executed short programme that placed him third before the free skate relegated the Frenchman to seventh. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov went on to win the Olympic gold ahead of Kagiyama and Shun Sato. Shaidorov is not competing in Prague.
On Thursday, Siao Him Fa also appeared relaxed and smiling after his performance, a tribute to Leonardo da Vinci. “When it works best is when I stop thinking and leave my brain at the sidelines,” said the Frenchman, who said he had learned valuable lessons from his Olympic experience. “The Games helped me a lot to realise that in a competition, you really have to adapt to what’s happening on the day. I can feel good, not good, or even be sick. I don’t know what might happen, but you have to do the job in the moment.”
Japan’s Sato is fourth after the short programme. Meanwhile, Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin are leading going into the pairs free skate later on Thursday, as they bid for their first world gold. The German duo hold a slim lead over Georgians Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava. The two pairs, bronze and silver medallists respectively in Milan, are the clear favourites in the absence of the Olympic champions, Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who skipped the event.
© 2024 AFP
