Grand Prix Final: Ilia Malinin Holds a Big Lead Over Yuma Kagiyama After the Men's Short Program

World champion Ilia Malinin of the United States moved out to a big lead after the short program at the Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France, on Friday, December 6. The 20-year-old Malinin will take a nearly 12-point lead over second-place Yuma Kagiyama into Saturday's free skate.

Malinin is in first with a score of 105.43 points, with Kagiyama second at 93.49. Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov is third on 91.26.

Shun Sato stands in fourth place with 86.28, while Daniel Grassl (81.76) is fifth and France's Kevin Aymoz (68.82) sixth.

Malinin skated to "Running" and opened with a big quadruple flip, followed by a triple axel. He was judged a quarter rotation short on the front end of his quadruple lutz/triple toe loop combination jump, but received level fours on two of his spins and a level three on his step sequence.

"It was such a fun experience competing and performing here," Malinin stated. "I felt very supported. It made me feel a lot more excited and gave me energy."

Malinin would not disclose whether or not he would attempt a quad axel in the free skate.

"You will see, it's a surprise," Malinin commented. "I think it's exciting when the audience come and don't know what to expect. My main goal is to be proud of what I have achieved."

Kagiyama Recovers From Early Fall at Grand Prix Final

The 21-year-old Kagiyama performed to "The Sound of Silence" and fell on his opening quad salchow. The Beijing Olympic silver medalist recovered to hit a nice quad toe loop/triple toe loop combo. He went on to land a triple axel. Two of his spins and his step sequence were level fours.

"I think I did well even if I could have done the [quad] salchow better," Kagiyama remarked. "The timing was off and I turned too much so I couldn't control the rotation. That was not good."

Added Kagiyama, "I was confident and then happy when I saw the score. For sure my objective at the end is to be first, but the short program is the program and the free is the free, so I'll focus even more for tomorrow and I will do my best."

Shaidorov Hampered by Spin Issues

Shaidorov, who is a replacement for the injured Adam Siao Him Fa, competed to "Dune" and landed two clean quads, but had spin issues, with one a level four, another a level three, and a third just a level one.

"I have a lot of emotions and I get the energy, I really want to show a clean skate and the combination and get to enjoy it," Shaidorov declared. "It's an interesting experience [to be in the Grand Prix Final] ― at first I was not supposed to participate in it. And then I came here and the Grand Prix in China recently had ended, and I was quite tired after China. But I am happy to be able to perform all I can."

Sato Stumbles on Opening Quad Lutz

The 20-year-old Sato, who won the Cup of China on November 23, skated to "Ladies In Lavender" and fell on his opening quad lutz. He got back up and cleanly landed a quad toe loop/triple toe loop combo, and went on to hit a triple axel. Sato registered level fours on two of his spins and a level three on his step sequence.

"Even though I failed on the first jump, I practiced in a way that I could make it till the end and if another fall happened, I might consider changing the jump," Sato said. "Tomorrow I will try to perform without caring too much about that mistake and I will make sure I succeed in tomorrow's performance."

Miura, Kihara Take Silver in Pairs

Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin won the pairs on Friday with a total score of 218.10, while Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara had to settle for second at 206.71. Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava rounded out the podium in third on 205.78.

Miura and Kihara, the 2023 world champions, did not participate in last year's GP Final due to injury.

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Author: Jack Gallagher

The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.