“Quad God” Malinin Fine-Tunes Olympic Bid at Grand Prix Final
Nagoya, Japan – Ilia Malinin of the United States enters this week’s Grand Prix Final poised to solidify his position as the leading contender for Olympic gold in men’s figure skating.The 21-year-old, widely known as the “Quad God” for his mastery of quadruple jumps, aims to sharpen his performance against a strong international field as he prepares for his debut at the Winter Games in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo this February.
Malinin arrives in Nagoya as the reigning two-time Grand Prix Final champion, having secured qualification with a perfect record.He dominated both the Grand Prix de France and Skate Canada, accumulating maximum points through victories at each event.
His performance at Skate Canada was particularly noteworthy, where he achieved a world record free skate score of 228.97. Remarkably, this dominant showing - where he finished 76.6 points ahead of the next competitor – was accomplished without including his signature quadruple axel, a jump he is the only skater to have successfully landed in competition.
Malinin hinted at potentially incorporating the quad axel into his program this week as part of his intensified Olympic readiness, a move that would undoubtedly raise the stakes for his rivals. “It almost felt like I was on autopilot and everything was just happening one element after the othre and I felt really confident even going into that second half,” Malinin stated following his Canadian victory. “I know that hopefully that record can be even higher.”
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan represents Malinin’s closest challenge for Olympic supremacy. Kagiyama also qualified for the Final with maximum points, winning both the NHK Trophy and the Finlandia Grand Prix. Despite his victories, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist expressed dissatisfaction with his performances, citing jump errors. “There were some jump mistakes so that is a disappointment,” Kagiyama commented after winning in Finland, despite a fall during his quadruple toe loop attempt.
rounding out the six-man field are Shun Sato of Japan,who won the Cup of China,and Adam Siao Him Fa of France,who secured his spot with two second-place finishes. Kazakhstan’s mikhail Shaidorov and Italy’s Daniel Grassl will also compete in Nagoya.
