Ilia Malin takes second Grand Prix Final title in Grenoble
2024-25 Grand Prix Final | Men
USA’s Ilia Malinin won his second consecutive Grand Prix Final Men’s title in Grenoble, France, on Saturday. Yuma Kagiyama of Japan came away with the silver, while teammate Shun Sato rose from fourth to capture the bronze.
Ilia Malinin
The 2024 World Champion was near-solid in his short program to “Running” by NF. He landed a quad flip, triple Axel and quad Lutz-triple toe. The only error came when he landed the Lutz on the quarter in the combination. He earned many high positive grades of execution (GOE) on his first two jumps, as well as the spins and footwork, scoring 105.43 for first place.
“I felt very good and confident,” said Malinin of his performance. “I tried to let everything out and feel the audience. I am pleased with the score. It was such a fun experience competing and performing here. I felt very supported. It made me feel a lot more excited and gave me energy.”
The 19-year-old said the “raspberry twist” is his favorite thing to perform as it excites the crowd.
The defending champion changed his layout for the free skate with an ambitious seven quads in his routine to “I’m Not a Vampire.” However, the technical panel deemed four were landed on the quarter and the other three were underrotated. He also fell on the Lutz. He kept the audience engaged with his fervent rhythm, displaying level four spins and strong level-three footwork, and of course, his raspberry twist and back flip. He still managed to place second with 186.69 points, and with a total score of 292.12, was able to hold on to his overnight lead with over 10 points to spare.
“I was not really thinking about the technical panel after my result,” said Malinin, when asked if he felt the technical panel was strict. “I was just really proud of myself for trying to get this technical layout and to just challenge myself to get through the program. And of course, right now, this is just kind of a test; a test program to see what I can improve on and bring more. But I think I’m overall pretty satisfied with my performance tonight.”
The two-time U.S. champion added that his main goal was to “clean everything” up. His goal is to have clean skates, so he will decide if he should lower the quad count.
“I will get home and play around with the elements and will figure out what the content for Worlds is going to be,” said Malini. “I feel pretty good. It was not what I wanted but I am still proud of myself. I try to create something new; even 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.”
Malinin also shared that he was looking forward to watching Shaidorov’s free skate.
“I was actually in the skaters’ lounge watching him perform before I went on the ice because I was really excited to see if he would land the triple Axel-Euler-quad Salchow. I was really proud of him for being able to, especially after that first mistake (fall on the quad Lutz). He was able to regroup himself and then go for that (new) combination. It really brings me joy to see people pushing the sport and for inspiring others to try something new and be brave about their decisions. So I think in the future, that’s something that I would consider.”
Yuma Kagiyama
The 2022 Olympic silver medalist fell on his opening quad Salchow in his short program to “The Sound of Silence,” but quickly recovered to land a solid quad toe-triple toe and triple Axel. Two spins and the footwork were graded a level four, and he also earned many positive GOEs throughout. He finished second with 93.49 points.
Kagiyama said he felt he did well despite the fall.
“The timing was off, and I turned too much so I couldn’t control the rotation,” he explained. “That was not good. Because the performance was late in the evening, I felt tired, but I did my best. Everyone did well, but I tend to not focus on the other performances. Everyone is doing their best, so I focus more on myself. I was confident and then happy when I saw the score.”
Kagiyama gave a strong free skate that featured a quad flip, quad toe-triple toe, and quad toe. The only mistakes came when he doubled the Salchow and put a foot down on his final jump, a triple flip-double loop. The 2024 Four Continents champion stayed focused throughout, displaying good spins, but the footwork only garnered a level two. He finished first (188.29) in the free skate and maintained second place overall (281.78).
He was disappointed with his scores in both his short and long program. In fact, he said that in the back of his mind, he was going for a win.
“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,” said the 21-year-old. “I hope to learn to control my emotions better so as not to be so tense. I missed some elements like the spins and steps. I wish to improve them to the fourth level and to get ready for the next championships.”
“As far as the distance that separates me and Ilia, I just have to say that it’s still very, very great,” he observed. “So, I do aspire to be at Worlds. Until then, I will always have Ilia’s presence on my mind, and I will train hard to make that distance that separates us as small as possible.”
The skater added that is nostalgic to be back in Grenoble.
“The French public was very enthusiastic, and it helped me enjoy even more performing here,” he said.
Kagiyama, who works with Carolina Kostner, said that she helps him on his skating skills and expression.
“And during competition, she gives me a lot of emotional support,” he said. “She can see when I look anxious, so then she will tell me to stay calm or that ‘you can do it, you’ll see.’ So I’m very, very grateful for all of her support. This is the second year that she is my coach (alongside his father). She helps me grow every day, so I’m really, really thankful that I have her.”
With nationals just two weeks away, Kagiyama wants to focus on the consistency of his jumps as well as the levels he missed on his footwork and spins.
“I will have to reflect on those and train hard so that I do not miss them,” he said. “Always training 120%, that’s the secret, so I will work hard every day to achieve that.”
Shun Sato
The two-time Four Continents medalist fell on his opening quad Lutz in the short program but quickly recovered to produce a quad toe-triple toe. His routine to “Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra” from Ladies in Lavender also featured a triple Axel and two level-four spins. He placed fourth with 86.28 points.
“Even though I failed on the first jump, I practiced in a way so that I made it till the end,” said Sato. “And even though I fell today, I will change my mind set for tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll try to perform without caring too much about that mistake. I haven’t been landing the Lutz cleanly, and I will make sure I succeed the Lutz in the free skate.”
The 2024 Cup of China gold medalist opened his technically difficult free skate to “Nostos” with a nice quad Lutz, but then fell on an underrotated quad flip. That was the only flaw in an otherwise strong performance. The fall didn’t derail him as he quickly recovered to land two more quad toes, one in combination with a triple toe. He landed a total of five clean triple jumps and placed third in the free skate and overall (184.54/270.82).
“Because I failed during the short program, I tried to not care about it too much today,” said the 20-year-old, whose goal was to make the podium. “Today in my performance I did a high Lutz, which increased my score, so I’m happy with the results.”
“It’s been two years since I was in the Final,” he added. “I think it’s a good experience and because the Japanese National Championships are coming up, I’d like to train well for it. There is not much time until the nationals, but I will take away the lessons I learned from this event, especially in the short program where I made mistakes.”
Daniel Grassl
Italy’s Daniel Grassl placed fifth (81.76) in the short program with his routine to “Human.” The 2022 European silver medalist landed a quad Lutz-triple toe, but the first jump was underrotated and the second was landed on the quarter. The quad loop was also underrotated, but the triple Axel was solid, and he earned a level four on two spins.
“I felt very good,” said the 22-year-old of his skate. “The score is not what I was hoping for, but I’m very happy for the two quads that I’ve landed for the first time, although not so clean. But I will work on it.”
The 2024 NHK Trophy silver medalist placed fourth (173.20) with his free skate to music from the Billy Elliott musical. He underrotated his first two jumps, a quad Lutz and quad loop, but the rest of his performance was solid. He executed a solid quad Salchow and six triple jumps in all and moved up one spot to fourth overall (254.96).
“I feel good now,” said Grassl. “It was very tough today. I didn’t feel my legs 100%, but I’m happy with my skate. It wasn’t bad. Now I’m going to focus on my next competition, the Italian Nationals.”
Grassl added that he didn’t have any expectations coming into this event.
“I was just surprised and happy to be here and that was the main thing for me,” he said. “Being here was already a big goal.”
He plans on going to the 2025 FISU Winter World University Games which will be held in his hometown in Torino next month. He then plans to compete at Europeans and hopes he can make the World team.
Mikhail Shaidorov
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan landed a quad Lutz-triple toe, triple Axel and quat toe in his dramatic short program to music from Dune. His footwork and flying camel spin were graded a level three, while the change foot combination was awarded a level four. He placed a close third with 91.26 points.
“I showed my clean skate,” said Shaidorov, who was gifted with a huge stuffed bear. “I lost my balance a little bit but I’m happy to be here.”
The 20-year-old, who was the first alternate after France’s Adam Siao Him Fa of France withdrew, said he had a lot of emotions coming into the event.
“It’s an interesting experience,” he said. “At first, I was not supposed to participate in it, and then I came here. The Grand Prix in China recently had ended and I was quite tired after having two competitions back-to-back. But I am happy to be able to perform all I can.”
The 2023 Cup of China bronze medalist placed sixth in the free skate and dropped to fifth place overall (162.49/253.75). His dramatic performance featured a quad toe-triple toe, but he fell on his opening quad Lutz and underrotated the quad flip. He also made history by landing a triple Axel-Euler-quad Salchow in competition.
“I feel good, but I’m very tired and I want to take a rest for the next second half of the season,” said Shaidorov. “My jumps were not good. I don’t have the components and don’t know why.”
He acknowledged the points were not as high as he had liked for triple Axel-quad combinations and said he will probably stop creating others as they “don’t score too much anyway.”
“The nationals are in a week from now,” said the skater from Almaty. “I will try to do my best. I will not change much. Perhaps I will make my content a bit less complicated for the nationals, but I plan to move forward with the same list of the jumps.”
Kevin Aymoz
Kevin Aymoz of France gave an entertaining short program to “Everybody” by Martin Solveig but went down on both the quad toe and triple Axel. Despite the falls, he stayed engaged and racked up many GOEs with his quality spins and footwork. He placed sixth (68.82) going into the free skate.
“That was beautiful!” said Aymoz of the atmosphere on his home ice. “Not my skating unfortunately, but it was beautiful. I feel really lucky today to skate in the Final in my rink. I am so thankful for all the people coming here and cheering for me. I felt the love falling on me.”
Aymoz displayed quality artistry throughout his emotional free skate to “Van Gogh,” “Hold on Tight” and “Destiny.” He landed a quad toe-double toe in his opening jump, but turned out the second quad toe. He also stepped out of a triple Lutz and underrotated and two-footed the landing on the back end of a triple toe-Euler-triple Salchow. However, he managed two solid triple Axels and showed very good level-four spins and footwork throughout. The 2024 Skate America silver medalist placed fifth (169.81) in the free skate and sixth overall (238.63).
“I feel alive, I feel very happy!” said the 27-year-old. “It was hard because it was in my hometown, so there was all the pressure to either win or lose. But I wanted to do a good job for all the people out there so, I am very happy.”
“Before yesterday, I had never experienced such a big scale competition in my hometown, so I felt all the pressure from the audience,” he added. “Also, all their love. It scared me a bit. That’s why today I was more cautious of that for this program, but I survived.”
Aymoz will now prepare for nationals and hopes to later compete at Europeans and Worlds.
Related Info:
The post Ilia Malin takes second Grand Prix Final title in Grenoble appeared first on Golden Skate.