World Figure Skating Championships: Brilliant Ilia Malinin lands quad Axel on his way to first world title; Kagiyama Yuma claims silver
The 19-year-old USA skater was astounding in a record free skate that featured six landed quadruple jumps. Kagiyama Yuma claimed a third world silver as Adam Siao Him Fa bounced back for bronze.
Figure Skating
The "quad God" was other-worldly on Saturday (23 March) night in Montreal.
Nineteen-year-old American Ilia Malinin fell to the ice just once in his free skate at the World Figure Skating Championships - at the end of the program, collapsing to the floor as he was overcome with emotion after delivering a world record performance to capture his first world title.
Malinin landed six quadruple jump, including his historic quad Axel (he's still the only man to land the jump), scoring a record 227.79 in the free to total 333.76 and earn a runaway gold medal in men's singles, jumping - literally - from third place to first after the short program.
He leap-frogged silver medallist Kagiyama Yuma of Japan by some 24 points, but the 20-year-old was his own brand of brilliance, capturing a third silver in four years with a 309.65.
Adam Siao Him Fa of France rocketed from 19th place after the short program with an astounding free, too, soaring to the bronze medal (and punctuating his effort with a backflip late in the program), totalling 284.39.
Two-time reigning world champion Uno Shoma of Japan, the short program leader, fell on his opening quad attempt and never fully recovered, relinquishing his title with a fourth-place finish having placed sixth in the free. He scored 280.85 overall.
Jason Brown, the fan favourite from the U.S., was fifth at 274.33, while Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland rounded out the top six at 274.09.
Malinin was in a state of disbelief after he got up from the ground, the standing ovation around Bell Centre engulfing him in roaring cheers. He's the first American man to win a world title in singles since Olympic champion Nathan Chen won his third in a row in 2021.
He joins Chen (2018, 19 & 21) and Evan Lysacek (2009) as American men to win world titles this century.
"I'm in shock right now," Malinin told reporters, detailing his pre-Worlds struggles: "The past couple of weeks have been so hard for me to train, and it was even a thought for me that I wouldn't be able to compete at the World Championships.
"[But] there was a little voice in my head [that said], 'No matter what, you have to keep fighting, keep going, no matter how bad you feel you just have to know that you're capable of,'" Malinin added.
Ilia Malinin's golden night is nightmare for Uno Shoma
Skating last, Malinin knew what he had to do. Kagiyama fell just once before him, leaving the door ajar.
Malinin kicked it open.
He started with a monstrous quadruple Axel, the jump that he alone continues to hit in competition, and then never looked back. The Grand Prix Final champion hit a quad Lutz, quad loop and quad Salchow to total four quads - four different ones - in the first half of his program, before settling into the spins, step sequence and choreography work of his Succession-themed free skate.
Even then, he was not done, adding a quad Lutz-half loop-triple flip in combination, then quad toe-triple toe and - finally - a triple Lutz-triple Axel combo that he let out a gigantic fist pump after.
The world title was his.
"I want to thank everyone in the arena for helping me to get through this program," Malinin said to fans, who had burst into cheers throughout his highlight-ridden performance. "Thank you."
Moments earlier, in Uno's program, there was a signal that there would be a new world champion on this night. The Japanese skater went down on his opening quad Lutz attempt and barely saved his patented quad flip, stumbling and fighting to stay upright.
The damage was done. The defending champion tried to settle in with a quad toe-double toe, but then struggled on the back-end of his triple Axel-half loop-triple flip combination.
Speaking to the media later, Uno said he had nothing to be disappointed about.
"I put my heart into this free program... and this is the result I got," Uno said. "Looking back on everything, it was an exhilarating experience overall. Every day I faced myself and practised diligently, which instilled a sense of accomplishment within me."
Hard-earned hardware for Kagiyama, Siao Him Fa
The third silver for Kagiyama comes after the same finish in 2021 and 2022. He missed last year's Worlds, having been absent for much of the season with a left leg injury.
He recruited Carolina Kostner, the 2014 Olympic medallist wo is revered for her artistry, to his team in the off-season, and built back to some of his best skating, with wins at the NHK Trophy in November and Four Continents last month.
"I really wanted to show everything I have today," Kagiyama said. "Although there was a mistake, I was able to deliver an almost perfect performance. I'm pretty happy about that.
"I put it all out there. I did all I could...I'm going to continue to improve and improve."
Siao Him Fa's podium effort marks one of the great comebacks in the sport, having trailed third-place Malinin by 28 points after the short program.
"This competition was with a lot of ups and downs. I went through a lot of emotions," the French skater said. "I didn't expect to win a medal after the short program. I thought about skating clean, my free skate.
"During the two days [between the short and free], I thought that I didn't want any mistakes in my free, and I only wanted to compete with myself. I knew I wasn't in control of the other performances or the judging, so I attacked it with that thought, 'Go after every jump'."
Brown, who turns 30 this year, provided chilling skating in his "The Impossible Dream" free program. His 93.98 points for program components (artistry) was the highest of the men's free.
"I feel like I keep discovering new parts of myself every step along the way, and that's why I am here," said Brown, who skated just three times internationally in the last two years. "It's all a bonus."