Grand Prix Final 2023: Ilia Malinin makes more quad Axel history in men's short program to post season-best lead
The American skater, the only person in the world to have landed the quad Axel, successfully performed the first such jump in a short program in Beijing on Thursday (7 Dec 2023).
Figure Skating
Ilia Malinin will take some stopping this weekend.
The self-proclaimed "quad god" posted the best short program score of the season yet at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing, People's Republic of China, on Thursday (7 December), thanks to landing the first ever quad Axel performed in a short program.
Malinin is the only skater to have successfully landed the difficult jump in competition, but had never previously attempted it in a short program. He had told Olympics.com about avoiding performing the jump this year due to a devaluation in its base value, but chose to make history in the Chinese capital.
The American, who also added a strong quad toe–triple toe combination in addition to a mandatory triple Axel, earned a new personal best 106.90 to lead a top-class men's field.
"It didn't say anywhere in the rules that you weren't allowed to do the quad Axel as the solo jump, it just says you can do 'any triple or quad jump,'" explained a breathless Malinin to reporters in Beijing. "That's when I just decided to go for it and see if it works out.
"I'm just really glad that I was able to pull it off," Malinin added. "Since it was the first time trying it in the short, it was a lot of pressure for me."
He holds a narrow advantage over Uno Shoma (106.02), the two-time current world champion and triple Olympic medallist who was phenomenal on the ice but was outdone by Malinin's latest piece of history.
Uno was sublime in his performance and, skating second, had registered the season's best score until Malinin bettered it three skaters later. The Japanese earned the highest program components (performance) score of all six finalists at 47.11, and was one of only two – alongside Kagiyama Yuma – to score 9.00 or higher in all three program components categories.
"I was expecting everyone to top 100 (points) so I’m not that caught up by today," Uno said afterwards about how he would approach Saturday's free skate. "After all, it’s only the short program. You can easily make up 20 points in the free.
"Figure skating isn’t a contact sport so you’re not trying to take anything away from the competition. It’s all about the fight within. I think we’re all rivals but a fraternity at the same time. We’re trying to outscore each other at a high level but it’s really fun."
Kagiyama – whose opening quad Salchow was the pick of all the jumps in the entire segment, scoring a +3.88 grade of execution (GOE) score from the judges – sits third on 103.72 points, with the top three each having breached the 100-point barrier.
Flanked by his coaches Carolina Kostner and Kagiyama Masakazu (who's also his father) in the kiss and cry, Kagiyama looked pleased with his score, with father Masakazu also giving him a pat as well as flashing a thumbs-up at the camera.
However, speaking to reporters later, the younger Kagiyama admitted he felt he could've done better. "I was OK but I felt like I was much better at the NHK Trophy. I was a little too casual on my step sequences among other things so I think that’s something I need to brush up for the free.
"I was not going to worry about the score or where I placed today. I’ve never been able to consistently perform well throughout the entire season so to be able to skate cleanly again is a sign of growth. I have an extra day now so practice after assessing what I need to work on and take it from there. The short is the short, and the free is the free. I need to focus on what I have to do."
Hase/Volodin skate to shock pairs lead
Earlier, Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin soared to a new personal best in the pairs short program to take a surprise lead.
The duo impressed the judges with their clean skating, earning positive GOE scores from all nine judges for all their elements, even if the technical panel ruled their triple twist only a level three.
They scored 72.56, more than five points over their previous best short program score, to lead from Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps. The double Grand Prix winners this season were undone by their triple Salchow as well as the throw triple loop, which were both marked down by some judges as they tallied a total of 71.22.
Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii sit third on 70.30, with their triple twist not particularly convincing and earning 0 GOE from four of the judges.