Ilia Malinin on cusp of first national title, leads after men's short program at U.S. Figure Skating Championships
The 18-year-old is reigning world junior champion, and is ahead of a resurgent Jason Brown by 10 points. Brown is competing for the first time since the Beijing Olympics.
Figure Skating
Ilia Malinin is filling the skate boots of Nathan Chen just fine.
The history-making teenager skated into first place on Friday (27 January) at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., at the SAP Center, scoring a 110.36 - and taking a step closer to his first national title.
There was no quadruple Axel - they are not allowed in the short program - but the 18-year-old didn't need it, hitting a quadruple Lutz-triple toe-loop combination to open, then a quad toe and triple Axel in his "I Put a Spell on You" short program.
Malinin put a spell on the crowd, which gave him a standing ovation, his score only lower than those past of Chen, the reigning Olympic champion and six-time national winner, and Vincent Zhou (112.78 - 2022).
It was two-time Olympian Jason Brown who skated immediately after Malinin, the veteran returning to the arena where he fell short of an Olympic bid in 2018, only to make the team again a year ago.
It's been since that event - Beijing 2022, where he finished in sixth place - that the 28-year-old Brown has competed, but the seamless, ethereal veteran skater didn't miss a beat, recording his fourth-straight 100-plus short program score at nationals to finish in second place behind Malinin at 100.25.
Tomoki Hiwatashi, world junior champion in 2019, is third with a 85.43. He missed nationals a year ago due to Covid-19.
"I'm very surprised with how I was able to pull that off," Malinin told reporters after the short. "Especially with how the short program went at the beginning of the season. We took the time to change a bit of the program, and looked at what went well and what didn't."
He added about his on-ice mindset: "I sort of forget where I am. I am just performing... [I know] everyone has an expectation of me, but I think of it as a practice [environment]. I try to stick with that and I try to show who I am."
Malinin, Brown wow crowd back-to-back
The crescendo of the men's event came midway through the final group, as Malinin skated after Hiwatashi and just before Brown.
A year ago, a teenaged Malinin stunned the U.S. field with a silver medal finish in Nashville, but in 2023 he arrived as the odds-on favourite, having won both of his Grand Prix stops and taken the bronze medal at last month's Grand Prix Final.
He didn't flinch, however, detailing his mental approach above. Sunday (29 January) he'll look to become the youngest first-time men's winner since Chen's inaugural title in 2016.
Malinin said his work with choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne is helping his second - artistic - mark, as he looks to round out his on-ice repertoire.
"We've taken a very different approach this season," Malinin said of the focus on his program components, which he earned a 46.63 for. "I just focus on myself. ... [I like to] go full out with how I perform."
Brown (who got a near-perfect 49.84 for his components) is making his 12th appearance at nationals, having debuted in 2010 and won the title in 2015. But it's 2018 that has haunted him for the past half decade, as he faltered to a sixth-place finish in San Jose and was left off the U.S. Olympic team after being on it for Sochi 2014.
He said prior to the event that part of his return to San Jose was to conquer the demons he's felt in this arena.
"I had talked through this moment with my sports psych for what feels like repeat for the last five years," Brown explained. "There are triggers everywhere. That being said, I showed up today and it felt different. I'm a different person; I'm in a different place."
He continued: "I was shocked that I didn't feel triggered at all. Maybe it's because I've done the work - I've felt light and happy and proud of the person that I've become through all the setbacks, rather than let that fear overcome me."
Brown is attempting a mix of exhibition skating and competition training. He did not participate in the Grand Prix Series.
"What Ilia is doing and the way he's pushing the sport, it's amazing, but I can't keep up," Brown admitted.
It was a redemptive skate for Hiwatashi, as well, having been knocked out of nationals a year ago. Liam Kapeikis and Andrew Torgashev rounded out the top five, both skaters having previous top 10 finishes at World Juniors.