Ilia Malinin bounces back from Olympic disappointment to claim a third world title, reaffirming his dominance on the global stage. Photo: REUTERS/FILE
PRAGUE:
American Ilia Malinin returned to the pinnacle of his sport as he skated to a third world title on Saturday and shrugged off the shock of an eighth-place finish at last month’s Olympics.
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France added their first world ice dance title to last month’s Olympic gold to cap a dream debut season.
The 21-year-old Malinin, who arrived in Prague carrying the weight of a collapse that cost him Olympic gold and intent on redemption, scored 218.11 points for a free programme that included five quadruple jumps, and 329.40 points overall.
“I definitely felt very pushed and loved from the crowd,” Malinin said. “Every single element I did, they were all behind me and I felt that the whole way through my programme.
“My expectation was to leave the long programme in one piece and I definitely think that happened.”
Olympic silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan climbed from sixth after the short programme to finish second with 306.67 after his elegant and flawless free skate to Puccini’s Turandot.
His compatriot Shun Sato, the bronze medallist last month in Milan, was third with 288.54 after his programme to Stravinsky’s Firebird.
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, the Olympic champion in Milan, did not compete in Prague.
Malinin carried a commanding lead into the final at Prague’s O2 Arena after a personal‑best score of 111.29 in the short programme put the “Quad God” more than nine points clear.
His free programme — entitled “The Voice” and featuring his own voiceover — fell short of his massive world-record score of 238.24 at the Grand Prix Final in December, when he performed seven quad jumps, including the quad Axel, a jump only he has landed in competition.
But it was a huge improvement of almost 62 points from Milan.
Malinin tripled the quad Axel, the jump that started the unravelling of his free programme at the Olympics, but his five quads were enough to remind the sport why he remains its most formidable force.
“It was really challenging and really hard,” he told the crowd. “But with you guys I was able to make it through.”
FOURNIER BEAUDRY AND CIZERON TAKE GOLD
Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, six-point leaders after the short dance, scored 138.07 points for their elegant and lyrical free dance to the soundtrack of the movie “The Whale,” and 230.81 points overall.
“It felt amazing. It was a suspended moment with all of you, and it’s such a special feeling to feel all of your eyes and your energy on what we created, so thank you so much,” Cizeron told the audience.
Malinin is now the second-youngest American to win three world titles, joining Dick Button, and he’s the youngest man to win three since Alexei Yagudin of Russia in 2000. He is also the first skater since Nathan Chen (2018-2021) to win three consecutive world titles.
With a huge lead from the short program, Malinin knew he did not need to use his full array of quads in the long program, as he had at December’s Grand Prix Final, when he became the first person to land seven – and one of each type. After all, none of the other 23 men tried more than three.
The most impressive part of Malinin’s scores were those for program component scores — presentation, skating skills and composition. With no mark lower than 9.0 and five maximum marks of 10.0 for presentation, Malinin totaled 95.04, nearly three points better than his previous personal best in a long program.
Meanwhile, a solid performance by Andrew Torgashev helped the U.S. keep its three men’s spots at worlds for next season, for which it was necessary that the placements of the top two U.S. mean add up to 13 or fewer.
Torgashev finished 10th, a huge improvement over the finishes of 22nd and 21st in his two previous world appearances. Higher, too, than his 12th-place Olympic finish.
“(It’s good) knowing I don’t have to be spectacular, just good, in order to achieve something for the team,” Torgashev said.
As it turned out, Jacob Sanchez’s 12th place in his world debut also would have been good enough to ensure the three places. That’s the advantage of having Malinin on the team.
