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Boston Globe
28-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Ilia Malinin ‘just went with the flow' in his soaring men's short program at World Figure Skating Championships
When Malinin returned to earth after pulling off a flawless quadruple flip jump, a triple axel, a quadruple Lutz-triple toe combination and his signature 'raspberry twist,' he'd already levitated the crowd from its seats. And his score of 110.41 put him more than three points up on Yuma Kagimaya, his Japanese archrival, whose subsequent performance itself was beyond reproach. Related : Advertisement Nobody has beaten Malinin since two Decembers ago yet he confessed to having a few butterflies beforehand. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'I felt really nervous, more than usual before,' the Quad God said. 'But when the music came on I just went with the flow and it just went from there.' The short program, with its seven required elements that include jumps, spins and footwork wedged into 2 minutes and 40 seconds, is unsettling. When Malinin won the crown last year in Montreal he placed third in the short behind Shoma Uno and Kagiyama because the quality of his spins were a bit wanting. They're markedly better now. 'His skating and his artistry are getting better year by year,' Kagiyama observed. 'So I'm starting to feel he's Lutz combo more than Kagiyama's quad toe combo. That's the advantage that the Quad God has over the rest of the contenders. If he lands what he brings he's all but impossible to outpoint. Even if Malinin had taken a tumble or two in the short he would have been able to make it up in Saturday night's free skate where the quality and quantity of his quads (likely seven) is unsurpassed. Back in the 6.0 scoring era when placements were based on ordinals (you can Google how they worked), a blown combination in the short program was fatal. Advertisement In 1996 Elvis Stojko, skating on home ice in Edmonton, was heavily favored to win a third straight crown. But he went down on his triple Axel-triple toe combo and was buried in seventh place. 'ELVIS IS DEAD,' a Canadian tabloid proclaimed. Stojko ended up fourth overall but his backside landing enabled a couple of Yanks — Todd Eldredge and Rudy Galindo — to win gold and bronze. That was the last time that two Americans made the podium until Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou did it in 2019. With Andrew Torgashev and Jason Brown sitting in eighth and 12th that's almost certainly not going to happen here. But the larger objective for the Americans is to keep three entries for next winter's Olympics in Italy. To do that the placements of their top two finishers here have to add up to no more than 13. Malinin can take care of most of that himself by making the podium for the third straight time. His first appearance at Worlds in 2022 was a consolation prize for having been passed over for the Olympic team in favor of Zhou and Brown, both of whom had a more established body of work based on their seniority. Malinin, who wanted badly to show off his quads, had a rocky free skate and ended up ninth. Since then he has perfected a repertoire that nobody else on the planet can match — quads of all six jumps in the same program most notably the Axel, which nobody else has landed. Adding up the base values of his jumps Malinin is unbeatable on paper and he all but says so. 'I would consider myself to be my biggest rival,' he said before these championships. 'My motto is: I always like to compete against myself and push my own limit.' Advertisement American Ilia Malinin said he made an immediate connection with the TD Garden crowd when he took the ice and heard the music. "I just went with the flow," he said. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Malinin has become the man everyone comes to see, the blond astronaut who slips the surly bonds of ice and does it grinning. It's no accident that he'll be the last skater up in prime time on Saturday. The party starts at 9:44 p.m. sharp. Four minutes is all the Quad God will need.
NBC Sports
27-03-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Ilia Malinin looks invincible to his top rival at figure skating worlds
BOSTON — Yuma Kagiyama was smiling when he said it, as if he were trying to lighten the meaning of his words and the implication they carried about the weight of the challenge for any figure skater trying to compete with Ilia Malinin. After Thursday's short program at the World Championships, when he finished a close second to reigning world champion Ilia Malinin, Kagiyama was asked what impresses him most about the man known as Quadg0d. 'He does all those difficult jumps, and he makes them look effortless,' Japan's Kagiyama said through a translator. 'Maybe he is putting (out) effort, but to us, it looks effortless and really easy. 'And it's not just his jumps. I feel like his skating and his artistry, his expression is getting better year by year, so I'm starting to think he's invincible.' FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Results | Broadcast Schedule Invincible. There may have been a bit of jest in that word choice, but the serious truth is Malinin's unprecedented array of quadruple jumps alone is enough to make him nearly unbeatable, especially if he leads going into the free skate. And that assessment of Malinin comes from a guy who won silver medals at the 2022 Olympics and three world championships, a guy whose edge work, posture and finesse have given Kagiyama a nonpareil elegance on the ice. Yet it is easy to understand why Kagiyama feels that way. Even when Malinin makes mistakes on several jumps, as he did in this season's Grand Prix Final, he lost the free skate but not the title to Kagiyama. 'I had some goals coming into this competition, and of course, scores are important,' Kagiyama said. 'I wanted to just get my short and my free clean. So my top priority is not the scores, not the ranking. I just wanted to put everything I have out there.' Kagiyama is halfway there, having done a flawless short program in which his exquisite balance on knife-edge blades saved a potential disaster on a quadruple jump. Malinin was also flawless and so electric that a roaring TD Garden crowd stood to applaud early in his final element, a step sequence. The result was a new international personal best score of 110.41, topping his old mark by 3.16 and giving him a lead of 3.32 over Kagiyama going into Saturday's free skate (8 p.m. ET, NBC and Peacock). Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan was a distant third, nearly 16 points behind Malinin. 'I was not expecting them to cheer me on halfway through my step sequence, but it was definitely uplifting experience,' Malinin said. His quads — a quad flip and a quad Lutz in combination with a triple toe loop — were impressive as always. His trademark raspberry twist was stunning for the way he never stopped moving after landing it. But this was as complete a performance as Malinin has given, capped by his freezing without a wobble into an architectural final pose. 'I think it was definitely one of the best performances I've done,' Malinin said. He felt more nervous than usual before beginning the 2-minute, 50-second program to music by the rapper NF. He didn't understand why the nerves kicked in but took a few seconds to step outside himself and think, 'OK, that's interesting.' 'Once the music started playing, and I got into my starting position, and I almost fell into that, you know, flow state, and it really just took me from there,' he said. Malinin has been to places no one else in the sport has reached. He is the first to land a quadruple Axel, the first to try all six types of quad in a free skate, the first to try a total of seven quads in a free skate. 'What is most remarkable to me is I feel he has more in him,' said U.S. teammate Jason Brown. 'I have no idea what it feels like to do what he does, but it just looks so effortless. And so I feel like sky's the limit.' Brown struggled in his short program, his first competition since early November, when he stopped to solve persistent issues with his boots. He made costly mistakes on two jumps and wound up 12th with 84.72 points. The third U.S. man, Andrew Torgashev, made one misstep and was eighth at 87.27. This time, it looks as if Torgashev rather than Brown will bear the onus of helping the U.S. get three men's singles spots at the 2026 Winter Games, for which the placement of the top two finishers must add up to 13 or less. 'Any time you have three guys on the team, you all want to carry your weight,' Brown said. 'We're always relying on each other.' Malinin is likely to finish no lower than second, which would give Torgashev some wiggle room. 'People might expect a lot from me, and they expect me to come and win every single competition, to be really confident,' Malinin said. 'I think that sometimes I am still human. There are off days.' Sometimes. Philip Hersh is a special contributor to He has covered figure skating at the last 12 Winter Olympics. Philip Hersh,
Reuters
27-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Champion Malinin leads after stellar short program
BOSTON, March 27 (Reuters) - Defending champion Ilia Malinin pulled off the best performance of his career to take the lead after a stunning short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston on Thursday. American Malinin, undefeated this season, performed a historic six quadruple jumps in his free skate routine in winning last year, the first man to do so with a quad Axel. Malinin began with a quad flip and made a combination of quad Lutz triple toe loops look easy to achieve a personal best and fourth highest ever short program score of 110.41 score, leading Japan's Yuma Kagiyama (107.09) ahead of Saturday's free skate. "I don't even know how to feel right now. I felt really nervous - more than usual before but when the music came on I just went into a flow state and it just went from there," Malinin said. Kagiyama, runner-up last year and three-times silver medallist, is expected to be Malinin's biggest challenger for gold. Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov, this year's Four Continents winner, is in third place on 94.77. Malinin clearly loved every moment on the ice, at one stage singing along with Running by NF, as the volume at TD Garden only grew louder, with the 20-year-old delighting the crowd with his signature "raspberry twist". Kagiyama had the unenviable task of following Malinin, but skating to "The Sound of Silence" he put in a performance which also brought the crowd to their feet. Kevin Aymoz of France moved safely though in fourth place, and was in tears after a performance which brought a standing ovation from the Boston crowd and ended with a season's best score of 93.63. His compatriot Adam Siao Him Fa shook off a fall at the start of his routine to recover with an excellent triple Axel, and is down in ninth place with 87.22. The Frenchman did, however, finish 19th in last year's short program, before coming back to take the bronze medal. The medal-deciding pairs free skate is scheduled for later on Thursday, with 2023 world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan leading Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii after Wednesday's short program.
Boston Globe
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
World Figure Skating Championships: Meet the contenders and Americans competing in Boston
Men Short program: Thursday, 11:05 a.m.-4:45 p.m. (TV: USA, 3 p.m.) Free skate: Saturday, 6-10 p.m. (TV: NBC, 8 p.m.) Medal ceremony: Saturday, 10 p.m. Ilia Malinin, US, age 20 The ' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Jason Brown, US, age 30 Advertisement Brown, an Illinois native, is a nine-time Grand Prix medalist, two-time Four Continents medalist, and the 2015 US national champion. At 19, Brown became one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic medalists, winning bronze in the team event in 2014. Brown withdrew from the 2025 US championships because of issues with adjusting to an equipment change but is expected to skate in Boston. While figure skating has become increasingly technical, Brown is known for exceptional artistry, often prioritizing program components, musicality, and emotion over elements such as quadruple jumps. Yuma Kagiyama, Japan, age 21 Kagiyama will look to earn his first global gold. Kagiyama has several silver medals, including the 2022 Olympics and three world silvers. He is coached by his father, Masakazu, who competed at the 1992 and 1994 Olympics. Adam Siao Him Fa, France, age 24 Along with being a two-time European champion and earning the 2024 world bronze medal, Siao Him Fa was a vocal proponent of taking the backflip off the International Skating Union's banned elements list. He added a backflip to cap his European and world championship free skates, costing him 2-point deductions each time. The 2024-25 season marks the first in nearly 50 years that a backflip is allowed in competition. Siao Him Fa celebrated by adding a backflip to each of his programs. Advertisement Lukas Britschgi, Switzerland, age 27 An Olympian in 2022, Britschgi was crowned European champion in January after winning his fifth Swiss title in December. Britschgi landed two quads and two triple Axels to become the first Swiss male European champion since 1947, despite struggling with a knee injury. Mikhail The five-time Kazakh national champion has been having an ascendant season, earning his first major success at the senior level with gold at the Four Continents in February. In November, he became the first skater to land a triple Axel-quadruple toe loop combination, in November and and in December the first to hit a triple Axel-Euler-quadruple Salchow sequence. Andrew Torgashev, US, age 23 Torgashev rounds out the American contingent. The Florida native earned silver at the US championships in January and is aiming for a top-10 finish at Worlds. Torgashev is the son of retired skaters Ilona Melnichenko (ice dance) and Artem Torgashev (pairs), who competed for the Soviet Union. Women Short program: Wednesday, 12-4:45 p.m. (TV: USA, 3 p.m.) Free skate: Friday, 6-10 p.m. (TV: NBC, 8 p.m.) Medal ceremony: Friday, 10 p.m. Amber Glenn, US, age 25 Glenn is looking to complete an unbeaten season with a world title after defending her national title in January. She is the fourth American woman to land a clean triple Axel in international competition. A Texas native who trains in Colorado, she is a strong contender for the Olympics. Isabeau Levito, US, age 18 Levito is the 2024 world silver medalist and 2023 US champion. She withdrew from the 2025 US championships because of a foot injury but was able to return to competition in February at the Road to 26 Trophy in Milan, where she finished second. The Philadelphia native trains in southern New Jersey. Related : Advertisement Alysa Liu, US, age 19 Liu is the 2022 world bronze medalist, two-time US champion, and competed in the 2022 Olympics. At 13, she became the youngest US women's national champion, and at 14 the youngest skater to win two senior national titles, becoming the first woman to win consecutive US titles since Ashley Wagner in 2012 and '13. Liu was the first American junior women's skater to successfully complete a triple Axel in international competition, the first American woman to complete both a quad and triple Axel in the same program, and the first woman to land a triple Axel in combination with a triple toe loop in the short program. She was runner-up to Glenn at the US championships. The California native trains in the Bay Area. Kaori Sakamoto, Japan, age 24 Sakamoto is the three-time defending world champion. She earned bronze at the 2022 Olympics and is looking to become the first woman to win four consecutive singles titles since Carol Heiss (1956-60). Sakamoto is the favorite as the most dominant woman of her era, but she is coming off a hugely disappointing Asian Winter Games, where she unraveled in the free skate to relinquish gold to South Korea's Kim Chae-yeon. Niina Petrokina, Estonia, age 20 Petrokina is the 2025 European champion and three-time Estonian champion. She became the first Estonian skater to win a gold medal at the European championships. Kim Chae-yeon, South Korea, age 18 Last year's world bronze medalist, Kim is on a hot streak with gold medals at the Korean championships, the Four Continents, and the Asian Winter Games. She upset Sakamoto in the latter, finishing second in the short program before dominating the free skate. Advertisement Yoshida Hana, Japan, age 19 In December, Hana earned a bronze medal at the Grand Prix Final. Pairs Short program: Wednesday, 6:45-10:20 p.m. (TV: USA, 8 p.m.) Free skate: Thursday, 6:15-10 p.m. (TV: USA, 8 p.m.) Medal ceremony: Thursday, 10 p.m. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, Canada The reigning world champions will look to defend their title after claiming their third straight Canadian crown. Stellato-Dudek, 41, is the oldest woman to win a world figure skating title in any discipline, and has been skating with Deschamps, 32, since 2019. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, Japan The 2023 world champions had to settle for a pair of silver medals on either side of their world title and are perhaps the biggest threats to dethrone the Canadian favorites. Miura, 23, and Kihara, 32, are having a strong season, having just won a Four Continents title in February. Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, US Efimova, 25, and Mitrofanov, 27, won their first national title together in January and are seeking their first global medal. The pair train at Norwood's Skating Club of Boston and earned silver at last year's US championships. Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, US Kam, 20, and O'Shea, 34, teamed up in 2022. They won bronze at the US championships in January and were US champions last year. The pair have two Grand Prix Series medals. Ice dance Rhythm dance: Friday, 11:55 a.m.-5 p.m. (TV: USA, 3 p.m.) Free dance: Saturday, 1:30-4:50 p.m. (TV: USA, 3 p.m.) Medal ceremony: Saturday, 5 p.m. Madison Chock and Evan Bates, US Defending world champions, and husband and wife duo, Chock, 32, and Bates, 36, have been teamed up since 2011, and are seeking their third consecutive gold medal. Chock and Bates earned a team gold at the 2022 Olympics and won their sixth US title in January. Chock often designs the pair's costumes, which won Best Costume at the ISU Skating Awards in 2020 and 2023. Their coaches, Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, were the 2006 and 2007 world silver medalists, representing Canada. Advertisement Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Canada Silver medalists in 2024 after bronzes in 2021 and 2023, Gilles (born in the US) and Poirier, both 33, come to Boston chasing a long-awaited gold after winning a fourth Canadian title in January. Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, Italy Guignard, 35, was born in France but has competed for Italy with partner Fabbri, 37, since 2010. The pair have picked up medals at the last two world championships — bronze in 2024 and silver in 2023 — and are looking for a gold to complete their set. The two won their third consecutive European championship and seventh straight Italian title ahead of Worlds. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, US Carreira (born in Canada) and Ponomarenko, both 24, have been skating together since 2014 and have won consecutive US silver medals (2024 and 2025). The pair earned bronze at Nationals in 2023, and in 2018 were the US junior champions. They also have won four Grand Prix Series medals. Ponomarenko is the son of 1992 Olympic ice dance champions Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, who competed for the Soviet Union before winning Olympic gold with the Unified Team. Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, US Green, 21, and Parsons, 29, teamed up in 2019 and earned bronze at Nationals in January. The pair were the Four Continents champions in 2022, US silver medalists in 2023, and have two Grand Prix Series medals. Rumsha Siddiqui can be reached at
Korea Herald
13-02-2025
- Sport
- Korea Herald
Cha Jun-hwan comes from behind for gold in men's figure skating at Winter Asiad
South Korean figure skater Cha Jun-hwan won a surprise gold medal in his first Asian Winter Games appearance in China on Thursday with a flawless free skate. Cha scored 187.60 points in the men's singles free skate to finish with 281.69 points overall at Heilongjiang Ice Events Training Center Multifunctional Hall in Harbin. Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist who has also won three silver medals at world championships, settled for silver with 272.76, after earning just 168.95 points in his mistake-filled free skate. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won the bronze medal with 246.01 points. South Korea swept the men's and women's singles titles in Harbin, with Kim Chae-yeon having upset three-time world champion from Japan Kaori Sakamoto earlier on the same rink on Thursday. Kagiyama had topped the short program with 103.81 points Tuesday, with Cha sitting in second place with 94.09 points. With no one else over 90 points, Cha, the 2023 world silver medalist, was the only one with an outside chance of catching Kagiyama in the free skate. Cha, 23, did exactly that as the second-to-last skater to perform, just in front of Kagiyama. With "Balada para un Loco" playing, Cha cleanly landed his first four jump elements, including the opening quadruple salchow and the follow-up quadruple toe loop. His combination jumps were all smooth, and he even added a triple loop to his planned triple flip in the back end of his program. Cha finished with 99.02 points in his technical score and 88.58 points in his program components score, both of them tops in the competition. Long known as an expressive skater, Cha earned high marks for his step sequences, spins and choreo sequences. Kagiyama struggled with his technical elements from the start. He touched the ice with his hand trying to land a quadruple flip. After landing a quadruple salchow cleanly, Kagiyama fell on a quadruple lutz and then ended up doing a double toe loop while attempting a planned triple toe loop. Kagiyama fell again on a triple axel toward the end. Kagiyama scored 85.87 points for his technical elements, only the fourth best in the field, and had 85.08 points in program components. One other South Korean, Kim Hyun-gyeom, withdrew from the free skate due to an ankle injury. He had 58.22 points in the short program. (Yonhap)
