Lombardia Trophy 2024: Ilia Malinin makes stunning season debut in short program
The 19-year-old world champion set a new short program personal best to lead Japanese pair Kagiyama Yuma and Sato Shun by over eight points.
Figure Skating
Ilia Malinin made a spectacular start to the 2024-25 figure skating season at the ISU Challenger Series Lombardia Trophy 2024 on Friday (13 September).
Competing for the first time as a world champion, the 19-year-old American posted a new personal best short program score of 107.25 in Bergamo, Italy.
After his world title triumph in March, Malinin told Olympics.com that he still wanted "to try to find my style of skating" as he works towards the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina.
His skate to Running' by NF certainly delivered in terms of improved artistry with his musical interpretation on point. He earned the highest program component score in the field, while the 'Quad God' showed his technical mastery once more with a quad flip, triple Axel and quad Lutz-triple toe loop all landed in style.
Behind him again was Kagiyama Yuma who claimed his third world silver medal in Montreal in March.
The Japanese took a step on his opening jump, a quad Salchow, but was otherwise solid in his skate to Garou's version of Simon and Garfunkel's 'The Sound of Silence'.
Despite a fine performance, Kagiyama finds himself more than eight points behind Malinin after scoring 98.68 on his first competitive skate of the new season.
Skating in the final group, Kagiyama's old junior rival Sato Shun came close to his career-best score to take third on the day.
The silver medallist from February's Four Continents Championships was only just shy of his compatriot's mark, hitting a quad Lutz, quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination and triple Axel to score 98.39.
The three are a long way clear of the rest going into Sunday's free skate with Georgia's Nika Egadze fourth on 76.35, just ahead of Japan's 2023 world junior champion Miura Kao.
Earlier on Friday, Amber Glenn got the better of three-time reigning world champion Sakamoto Kaori to take the women's short program.
Results from men's short program at the ISU Challenger Series Lombardia Trophy 2024 (top 10):
- Ilia Malinin (USA) 107.25
- Kagiyama Yuma (JPN) 98.68
- Sato Shun (JPN) 98.39
- Nika Egadze (GEO) 76.45
- Miura Kao (JPN) 76.42
- Lev Vinokur (ISR) 75.36
- Jimmy Ma (USA) 73.01
- Xavier Vauclin (FRA) 71.01
- Daniel Martynov (USA) 69.01
- Lim Ju-heon (KOR) 66.26