Ilia Malinin claims Skate Canada for back-to-back Grand Prix titles, earns place in GP Final
The reigning world champion is the first man to complete the Skate America-Skate Canada double since 1999. In ice dance, Gilles and Poirier won their fifth consecutive gold at this event.
Figure Skating
Just two weeks into figure skating's Grand Prix Series, Ilia Malinin has already booked his place in December's ISU Grand Prix Final.
The reigning world champion claimed the Skate Canada International title on Sunday (27 October) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, just one week after his win at Skate America. His 301.82 total was well clear of Japan's runner-up Sato Shun with 261.60.
Cha Junhwan of the Republic of Korea, world silver medallist in 2023, was third with 260.31.
Malinin is the first man since Alexei Yagudin to win at both Skate America and Skate Canada. Yagudin did so in 1999, marking the only other time a men's skater has won the first two Grand Prix events.
The 19-year-old landed three quads in his "I'm Not a Vampire" free skate while also executing a crowd-pleasing backflip, an added element for him this season that harkens back to his start in youth gymnastics as a child.
He told reporters afterwards, "I feel pretty relieved with my skate today. It was a tough decision to do back-to-back Grand Prix [events]. I'm very proud of myself for doing the last two weeks; it was not easy."
The Grand Prix Final, set for early December in Grenoble, France, features just the top six skaters or teams from each of the sport's four disciplines.
Last year's Skate Canada champion Yamamoto Sota was fourth (257.00), while veteran Jason Brown was eighth (218.75) after falls on his triple Axel attempts in both the short and free skates.
In ice dance, Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier skated to a fifth consecutive win at their home Grand Prix, making them the first team to do so since compatriots Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz in 1994-98.
Malinin eyes GP Final for quad Axel return
Malinin, who will turn 20 just days before the Final in December, said he plans to bring back his historic quadruple Axel for that event.
"It's been 50-50 in practice, so it wasn't ready for these events," he told Olympics.com of the jump, opting not to include it in the first part of the season.
He didn't need it in Halifax, his big jumps complemented by improved Program Components (artistry) as the top scorer in that mark, too.
Sato, who is still just 20 himself, now has six Grand Prix podiums to his name. He and Cha will both be in contention for respective Grand Prix Final spots as the season unfolds.
Cha was brilliant in his free skate a year after unravelling in that same segment at Skate Canada. The 23-year-old said he was in terrible pain in 2023 at Skate Canada, mostly due to an ankle injury.
But he placed behind only Malinin on Sunday, hitting a quad Salchow and then quad toe to open his "Balada para un Loco" free skate, which he said is akin to the program that was done beautifully in the past by Uno Shoma, the now-retired Japanese star, but that Cha wanted to make his own mark on the music, too.
Like Sato, it's also a sixth Grand Prix podium for the Korean skater. He finished in the top three at Skate Canada for his first - way back in 2018.
Ice dance: Gilles/ Poirier match historic streak
Gilles/Poirier have been close to unbeatable at home since first triumphing at Skate Canada in Kelowna in 2019. They said they were proud to continue the legacy of Canadian ice dance.
"We're just so honoured to be able to share something with incredible legends like" Shae-Lynn and Victor, Gilles said. "They started the legacy of all the incredible teams that have come after them. It feels nice to continue that."
It's the first time since 2017 that Canada claimed the top two spots in dance, too, with Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha bouncing back from a disappointing rhythm dance in which Zachary suffered an errant fall.
Their "Sound of Silence" medley struck a nerve with the audience, the duo earning a standing ovation as they celebrated together, clearly redeemed from their fall in the rhythm.
"It means a lot; we're very happy with today," Lajoie said. "Yesterday was not what we wanted, but to come back and finish in second... we're very pleased."
Their Montreal-based training mates, Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France, claimed the final spot on the podium.