Standing ovation as defending champ Malinin grabs world figure skating lead / Photo: © AFP
Standing ovation as defending champ Malinin grabs world figure skating lead
Defending champion Ilia Malinin seized command of the men's competition at the World Figure Skating Championships on Thursday with one of the greatest short programs ever performed.
Fans gave the 20-year-old American a standing ovation before his finish in a routine that earned judges scores of 110.41 points, fourth-best short program score ever in the event at worlds.
"I heard the cheering but I didn't take enough time to see how people were reacting to me," Malinin said. "I was so excited. I didn't even finish skating yet and they were already standing and cheering me so loud."
Nicknamed "Quad God" for his skill at quadruple jumps, Malinin dazzled the spectators with a brilliant performance.
His effort left Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, the 2022 Olympic runner-up and a three-time world runner-up, second on 107.09 with Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shadorov, the Four Continents champion, a distant third on 94.77.
Malinin said he felt more nervous than usual as he stepped onto the ice but responded when his music began.
"I can't describe how I feel right now," Malinin said. "All I remember is getting on that ice. I felt really nervous, more than usual, and I didn't know what was going to happen.
"But once the music came on, I just got into that slow skate and it really just went from there."
The men's title will be decided in Saturday's free skate final.
"It's going to be really fun and I'm really excited," Malinin said of his free skate program.
He said he was pleased to see Kagiyama deliver such a strong performance just after him in the final performance of the session.
"I'm so excited for Yuma. He looked really confident out there," Malinin said. "I was watching him boardside right after I got off so I was supporting him and I'm glad he did really good."
The pairs title will be decided later Thursday with the free skate final after Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won Wednesday's short program.
The meet is being conducted with heavy hearts after 28 of 67 people who died when an American Airlines plane collided with a military helicopter in Washington on January 30 were members of the skating community, three of them who trained at Malinin's Washington Skating club.
R.Perez--LGdM
