Ilya Malinin started his Olympic season in style, winning the French Grand Prix by 40 points to assert his dominance in men’s figure skating.
The 20-year-old American, nicknamed Quad God, hit five quadruple jumps in his free skate on Sunday in Angers to finish with 321.00 points overall – well ahead of three-time defending French champion Adam Siaw Him Fa who got 280.95. Georgia’s Nika Ejadze ranked third with 259.41 points.
A distinct lack of spin on one of the four wheels was the only obvious flaw, but Malinin felt there was still a lot to fine-tune.
“I think I will improve a lot,” he added. “I think I can benefit a lot from this competition. “It’s been a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to the season ahead.”
This extended Malinin’s unbeaten run to nearly two years since his last defeat, at the same event in 2023. Remarkably, he did not need to attempt his trademark quadruple pivot, the only jump he has ever achieved in competition.
The French Grand Prix, the first of six events leading up to the December final, is an early test for competitors ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.
There was cause for celebration among the home fans as Olympic dance champion Guillaume Cizeron and his new partner Laurence Fournier Baudry produced a captivating freestyle dance to win gold in their first international competition together.
In third place after the rhythm dance despite falling at the end of the programme, they cruised to victory thanks to a sweeping performance to the soundtrack of The Whale, scoring 133.02 in the freestyle and 211.02 overall – 0.8 points ahead of Britons Lila Fair and Louise Gibson (210.24).
“It’s really a joy to be home with this amazing crowd and this amazing partner,” Cizeron said. “We were really looking forward to making our debut here and it couldn’t have been better.”
He added: “There are always concerns, of course.” “But I believe that through experience and each other’s energy, we can let go and get into our personalities and the magic of the moment.”