By Rory Carroll
(Reuters) -American Ilia Malinin broke his own men’s free skate world record to win gold at Skate Canada International in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on Sunday.
The two-time world champion’s spectacular performance earned him 228.97 points in the segment and he clinched victory by a massive margin of 76 points with an overall total of 333.81.
The crowd at SaskTel Centre leapt to their feet after the self-proclaimed “Quad God” delivered another masterful performance that included six gravity-defying quadruple jumps and a crowd-pleasing backflip.
The 20-year-old, who will be the favouite to win the gold medal at February’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, surpassed his previous free skate mark of 227.79 set at the 2024 world championships. However, he fell short of Nathan Chen’s combined total record of 335.30 points from the 2019 Grand Prix Final.
The win was Malinin’s 12th straight at international events, securing his place at next month’s Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan.
Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko took silver with 257.21, boosting his case for the country’s lone men’s berth at the 2026 Olympics and earning Estonia their first men’s singles Grand Prix medal.
Japan’s Kao Miura snatched bronze with 253.69, edging compatriot Kazuki Tomono (251.46).
“I feel really satisfied with my program today,” Malinin was quoted as saying by Olympics.com.
“It’s one of the best programs I’ve done this season. I really worked on the cleanliness on the ice after Grand Prix de France, and I felt that out there today.”
CANADIAN PAIRS TOP PODIUM
Home favourite ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were not at their best on Sunday and were eclipsed by Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius in the free dance but the Canadian duo still claimed gold with a total of 202.89 thanks to the five-point cushion they had gained in the rhythm dance.
It was their sixth consecutive gold at their home Grand Prix.
Lithuanians Reed and Ambrulevicius were second with 200.92, with Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha third.
On Saturday, Japan’s Mone Chiba comfortably beat American rival Isabeau Levito with a total of 217.23 to win the women’s title. Chiba’s compatriot Ami Nakai claimed the bronze.
Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps stormed from behind to win the pairs title and book a berth at next month’s six-team Grand Prix Final.
The 2024 world champions posted 140.37 in the free skate to overturn a four-point deficit to short-program leaders Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany.
Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps finished on 213.40, comfortably ahead of Hase and Volodin’s 207.18. Americans Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea claimed bronze.
“We’re really happy, and there’s still room for improvement,” Stellato-Dudek said.
“We’ve managed to show more of what we do in training. We want to compete in as many events as possible to iron out all the little details before the Olympics.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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