Montreal (AFP) – Two-time world champion Ilia Malinin won the Skate Canada grand prix men’s title with a dazzling free skate in Saskatoon on Sunday, capturing his 12th straight international title as he continues to gear up for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The 20-year-old American’s free skate score of 228.97 points was a world record, surpassing the 227.79 he scored at the 2024 World Championships. It gave him a personal-best total of 333.81 and an astonishing 76.6-point win over runner-up Aleksandr Selevko, who had a total of 257.21 and bolstered his chances of earning Estonia’s only men’s place at the Milan-Cortina Games in February.
Malinin, who won the French grand prix stop earlier this season, secured his place in the Grand Prix Final at Nagoya, Japan, where he’ll be going for a third straight title. “I think that was one of the best programs I’ve done so far this season,” said Malinin, who had six quadruple jumps and two triple axels — one in sequence with his quadruple salchow. “After coming back from grand prix France, I really worked on just the cleanliness and feeling more confident on the ice and I definitely felt that today in my program.”
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Malinin, who already had a big lead after the short program, said that after his third jump, “I felt that it was really coming together.” It almost felt like I was on autopilot and everything was just happening one element after the other, and I felt really confident even going into that second half. “Of course in my personal opinion it wasn’t perfect, there’s always more to add to the program,” said Malinin, who is expected to reintroduce a quadruple axel — the jump only he has landed in competition — as the Olympics approach. “I know that hopefully that record can be even higher.”
Japan’s Miura Kao grabbed bronze, overtaking compatriot Tomono Kazuki, who had been second after the short program. Miura was third in the free skate to seize the last podium place with a total of 253.69 points, while Tomono, fifth in the free skate, was fourth with 251.46.
Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won the ice dance crown, becoming the first duo to win six straight dance titles at the event with a total score of 202.89 points. Leading after the rhythm dance, the Canadians were second in the free dance behind Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius, but the Lithuanians couldn’t make up the gap and finished second with a total of 200.92 points. Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha were third with 192.41 points.
© 2024 AFP
