Ilia Malinin has made history as the first figure skater to execute all six variations of quadruple jumps in a single program (two of which were under-rotated) while successfully defending his Grand Prix Final title and continuing a year-long winning streak. The 20-year-old from Virginia nailed a quad flip, Axel, loop, Lutz (after a fall […]
Ilia Malinin has made history as the first figure skater to execute all six variations of quadruple jumps in a single program (two of which were under-rotated) while successfully defending his Grand Prix Final title and continuing a year-long winning streak.
The 20-year-old from Virginia nailed a quad flip, Axel, loop, Lutz (after a fall on his initial attempt), toe loop, and Salchow during an extraordinary free skate in Grenoble, France, on Saturday.
He added a backflip to his routine, finishing the four-minute performance collapsed on the ice. He took deep breaths and gazed at the ceiling amidst roaring applause.
The current world champion scored a total of 292.12 points combining Friday’s short program and Saturday’s free skate, winning by 10.34 points over Japan’s Olympic and world silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama.
GRAND PRIX FINAL: Complete Results
The U.S. claimed three out of the four Grand Prix Final senior championships, including both singles events, for the first time ever. Amber Glenn and ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates also secured gold. Highlights will air Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
The Grand Prix Final, the most prestigious competition in figure skating, showcases the top six competitors from each discipline in the fall Grand Prix Series, often serving as a preview for the upcoming March world championships.
As the only skater to successfully land a clean quad Axel, Malinin incorporated every type of quad into one program for the first time. His record-setting seven quad attempts in a single skate were also noted, as reported by Skatingscores.com.
The performance, however, was not flawless. All seven jumps received negative execution grades and fell short of complete rotation, although none were downgraded to triples.
Kagiyama delivered a higher-scoring free skate with three quadruples but was unable to make up for an 11.94-point deficit from the short program.
“I had this vision and a goal I wanted to accomplish here, and I was able to surpass it,” Malinin remarked. He further stated, “My primary objective was to test this new element arrangement to see how I could handle it in future competitions.”
His winning streak now spans seven consecutive competitions, dating back to last year’s Grand Prix Final.
Malinin has emerged as the world’s leading skater after Nathan Chen’s retirement from competition post-2022 Olympics, and Japan’s Shoma Uno, the 2022 and 2023 World champion, who stepped away after finishing fourth at last season’s world championships.
Looking ahead, Malinin will aim for a three-peat at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January.
Amber Glenn concluded a transformative 2024 by outpacing the world’s top figure skaters.