Malinin takes sixth Grand Prix gold in Halifax
2024 Skate Canada | Men
Fresh off a win from last week at Skate America, USA’s Ilia Malinin easily claimed the Skate Canada title on Sunday afternoon. With 30 points total on the Grand Prix circuit, he has now qualified for the Grand Prix Final in December. Shun Sato of Japan was able to hold on to second place overall for the silver medal, while South Korea’s Junhwan Cha rose up one spot to pocket the bronze.
Ilia Malinin
Malinin opened his dynamic short program with an outstanding quad flip and triple Axel. He followed up with a quad Lutz-triple toe and earned a level for two spins and his footwork in his routine to “Running” by NF. The 2024 World Champion scored 106.22, just under a point from his personal best at Lombardia Trophy earlier this season. It was also an improvement from Skate America last week, but he lost a level on his change camel spin which was a level three.
When asked how he was able to remain so calm, the 19-year-old said it was probably due last week as it was the first “big” competition.
“So maybe that brought a little more pressure on me, but all I can say is this today, it was a lot easier when I stepped on the ice,” said Malinin. “I felt a lot more under my feet and I was really able to control everything in that program. So, I was more aware of myself.”
“Last week was really hard for me to skate, and I was feeling a lot more nervous than usual, and it was a really interesting fight, so to say,” he continued. “But this week, I came out with a whole different mindset. To try to just get through everything and try to minimize any mistakes which I did. So overall, really, I was able to be really relaxed on the ice, and I’m really proud of what I did.”
Malinin improved his free skate from last week, taking first place with 195.60 points. His routine to “I’m Not a Vampire” by Falling in Reverse featured three quads: flip, Lutz and quad toe, but the flip was landed on the quarter. He also two-footed and stepped out of a triple loop but was rewarded with a level four for all spins and footwork. The two-time national champion placed first overall with 301.82 points.
“It was very tough doing these two back-to-back Grand Prix,” admitted the 2024 Skate America champion. “Overall, I am pretty satisfied with my performance and how I was able to manage this today. You know, I’m a little bit bummed out with the loop, because I took the few days after Skate America to really make sure that this wouldn’t happen. But it is what it is. I just had to push it aside and continue the rest of the program.”
“The skater explained that he was a bit tired due to the new setup.
“Last year, I had the footwork in between the two sections for the jumping passes,” he explained. “This year, it’s more like an all-in-one continuous move. So, I think it’ll give me some time to adjust this.”
“I’m always challenging myself as my main competitor is just me,” he continued, regarding fighting from start to finish. “And of course, my goal was to go for the loop here as well. I have a little more time for the Final to really make sure I can do it under pressure, or when I’m doing the run through, so that it becomes pretty easy to do. Now, I’ll be able to take the feedback that I’ve got for myself from both the Grand Prixes and really just find spots in the program that I have to work on a little bit before the Final, stamina wise and kind of mentally. Of course, then I want to add a few more jumps or the technical elements in the free, so that’s also something.”
Shun Sato
Sato delivered a brilliant short program to “Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra” from Ladies in Lavender, placing second with 96.52 points. The two-time Four Continents medalist opened with a flawless quad Lutz and quad toe-triple toe. The skater also landed a triple Axel and received a level four on both spins, but the steps were only graded a level two.
“I think that today, the steps I could have probably given more to them,” said the 20-year-old. “The jumps were a little bit shaky during the six-minute warm up. They were not perfect, probably because I was nervous, but I was able to regroup and focus. So, I think that I was able to land all of them because overall, the program seen as a whole was strong. I’m really happy that I landed all of my jumps. I think that my short program used to be my weakness, but I’ve been able to increase my confidence because I’ve been training the short program so much. And I think short programs are really the key at any competition.”
The five-time Grand Prix medalist showed lots of effort in his free skate to “Nostos” where he placed fourth (164.64). Unfortunately, he took two falls: one on his opening quad Lutz and one on a triple Axel in the second half. The skate otherwise produced a quad flip (edge call) and quad toe-triple toe. The solo quad toe was underrotated. He earned a level four on two spins and was able to maintain second place overall with 257.00 points.
“I made some mistakes on my jumps which was disappointing,” said Sato. “On the other hand, I was very glad that I was able to land my quad flip. So, I think that this one was a good event that bodes well for my next event. For the short program I was able to do very well. I had a clean skate which was my goal coming in. In the free, my goal was to land the quad Lutz and the flip, and I couldn’t quite do that, so I’m aiming at my next competition, which is Cup of China, to land both the quad Lutz and quad flip.”
Junhwan Cha
Cha placed fourth with 88.38 after his short program to “Natural” by Imagine Dragons. The 2023 World silver medalist landed a very good quad Salchow, but then underrotated the back end of his triple Lutz-triple toe. He also stepped out the triple Axel, but all spins and footwork were rewarded with a level four.
“I’m very satisfied, because I really did my best and gave all the energies to the audience,” said Cha. “So, yeah, I’m very happy about it and very satisfied about it. I didn’t have great memory last season at Skate Canada, so I just really want to enjoy skating again in Canada. I think that’s the biggest goal.”
“The vocal has a lot of strong energies, so I really loved it, and I really loved the letters that he stands for,” the 23-year-old explained of his short program. “It’s very different from the free program. I just really want to show like totally different ways, so that’s why I choose it.”
The two-time Four Continents medalist produced a dramatic tango routine to “Balada para un Loco” for second place in the free skate (171.93). His program featured a quad Salchow, quad toe and three clean triple jumps. The only mistakes were a triple Lutz landed on a quarter and the first jump of a triple Axel-double Axel sequence was underrotated. All spins and footwork were graded a level four, however, and he moved up to third place overall (260.31) for the bronze medal.
“There were some mistakes, but I think in my condition right now, I think I did everything that I can do right now,” said Cha. “So yeah, I think those small mistakes and the quality is what I have to work on and improve for the next one. I think still I can make it better quality. So that’s what I’ve worked on.”
The skater said he struggled a bit with the rink size but was able to work it out after the second practice.
“I think it’s a good sign, because sometimes when competing in the U.S. or Canada, the ring size sometimes gets smaller. So, I think this experience will be really great for me for the event.”
Cha will compete at Finlandia Trophy next.
Sota Yamamoto
Japan’s Sota Yamamoto gave a dramatic and solid performance in his short program to “Split, Postcards from Far Away.” The 2022–23 Grand Prix Final silver medalist showed no hesitation going into his opening jump, a quad toe-triple toe. He followed that up with a quad Salchow but fought for the landing of his triple Axel. It’s clear he has been working on his presentation, and he received a level four on two spins and a level three on his footwork. He placed third in this segment with 92.16 points.
“For me, in the short program, the quad Salchow is a bit of a nemesis, but I was able to land a good one today,” said the 24-year-old. ” The triple Axel was a little bit tight on the landing, but overall, I think it was a performance that sort of bodes well for tomorrow. I was able to trust my training in the end, so I think that paid off. That mindset paid off. I trusted my training, and I trained the short program a lot. ”
“My Axels have been sort of not as good lately,” Yamamoto admitted. “I mean, the landings have been getting a little bit worse of late. I think that my speed just before takeoff has gotten a little bit too slow.”
He went on to explain that the theme of his program is about “loneliness”, and he imagines himself playing on the piano in solitude.
The national bronze medalist placed third (164.84) in his free skate to “Melting” and “Sogno di Volare.” He landed a total of six clean triple jumps, including two triple Axels. The skater also produced a quad toe-triple toe, but the quad Salchow was underrotated and he took a fall on a quad toe. However, the footwork was rewarded with a level four as was his combination sit spin. Despite placing third in both segments, his total score of 260.31 only warranted a fourth-place finish overall, and he missed the podium by 3.32 points.
“I thought I had kept the mistakes at a minimum, but I had some underrotations that were called and, so, that sort of really impacted the score that I got,” he pointed out. “So that was pretty disappointing. I tried not to think about it, the podium and all that. But probably somewhere in the back of my mind I had that. So, looking back on it, my performance was a little bit stiff in that sense, especially in the second half. The mistake on the quad toe was pretty costly. I think it was a fatal mistake that really sort changed the standings.”
“This is my third time at this event,” Yamamoto said of Skate Canada. “Every time I hear the audience, I get a lot of energy from them, a lot of power from them. So, this is an event that I really enjoy coming to every time. I’m grateful for the crowd reaction!”
The skater from Aichi will compete next at Finlandia Trophy.
Vladimir Litvintsev of Azerbaijan placed fifth overall (222.90), followed by Italy’s Gabriele Frangipani (222.57) and Canada’s Aleksa Rakic (222.49).
USA’s Jason Brown finished in eighth place (218.75).
“It’s a starting point,” said the 29-year-old. “Not the starting point I would have loved, but I feel like, ‘hey, only up from here.’ I learned a ton. My coaches and I have talked through this whole week as we’ve gone, taking notes as we go. And I’m looking forward to the NHK.”
When asked about his approach to the season, Brown said that he and his coach decided the best way was to try to do a full season this year and then evaluate if he would need more events or exposure with programs for next season.
“This is obviously very early on in the season, and so we’re going to keep collecting data, keep talking about it as we go,” he said. “Then, at the end of the year, kind of take a look back at it, talk about what worked, what didn’t, so we can best approach the Olympic season.”
The nine-time Grand Prix medalist will compete next at NHK Trophy.
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