Milan (Italy) (AFP) – Japanese bronze medallist Shun Sato on Friday blamed the “toxic schedule” of Olympic men’s figure skating for US favourite Ilia Malinin’s shocking slump off the podium. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov surged from fifth after Tuesday’s short programme to claim a surprise gold after the free skating final in the Milano Ice Skating Arena. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama held his second position to take silver with Sato moving up from ninth onto the podium.
Despite carrying a five-point lead into the free skate, Malinin placed 15th for his routine after two falls and multiple errors, and eighth overall. “I feel quite surprised by his performance tonight, he had a perfect season,” Sato said of two-time world champion Malinin who had not been beaten in over two years. The American had finished over 30 points ahead of Kagiyama and 40 ahead of Sato as they went 1-2-3 in the ISU Grand Prix final in December.
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“If you think about it, he had the team competition as well as the singles, and it was a very toxic schedule. It’s very bad that this happened to him,” said Sato. “He is still someone to look up to. Because of him, I’m here. I tried my best, and I want to thank him for this. I’m thankful for his presence in this competition.” Malinin had been bidding for a second gold after helping the USA retain their team title, having competed in both the short programme and the free skating in that event.
In total, the 21-year-old Malinin competed in four routines in Milan. Kagiyama added: “As everyone knows, he was part of the team’s programme, as well as today’s singles, and he has done four very difficult programmes. It’s really difficult; there’s this pressure from people who assume that he (Malinin) would probably get gold.”
“His performance was a little bit unusual. But it proves that this is really the Olympics; things like that happen.” Kagiyama and Sato both won silver with Japan in the team event, where they shared duties. Kagiyama competed in the team short programme where he led Malinin, and Sato placed second behind the American in the team free skate.
Sato, 22, said he was stunned at making the podium. He scored third highest in the free skate for his performance to Stravinski’s “The Firebird.” “I really didn’t expect myself to be on the podium at all,” he said. “I came ninth, and I felt frustrated about that outcome, but I didn’t give up.” Kagiyama placed sixth for his free skate to “Turandot” after falling on his second quad flip jump. He stepped out of two other quad jumps and tripped up on a step sequence.
But Kagiyama, 22, was happy to be on the men’s podium for the second time, having taken singles silver in Beijing four years ago. “Olympic Games obviously carry a special feeling, special atmosphere. It’s nerve-wracking for everybody. I feel like that was a tense atmosphere that was felt by all the athletes.”
© 2024 AFP
