Malinin’s quad Axel is a Grand Prix first
NORWOOD — In fourth after Friday’s short program, Ilia Malinin needed to do something drastic to win his first Skate America title.
Luckily, he happens to be the only skater in the world who has landed the quadruple Axel in competition.
The top ranked skater in the US opened his long program with the groundbreaking jump, landing it along with five other quadruple jumps to win the free skate and the title in the men’s competition at the Grand Prix event Saturday night at The Skating Club of Boston.
“Right before the six minute warmup I decided to go for it,” said Malinin. “Before I entered the ice, I decided to go for it.”
The quadruple Axel has never before been landed in a Grand Prix event. It helped Malinin cruise to a monstrous program score of 194.29 on his way to a 280.37 total. His tally in the free was 16.06 points more than silver medalist Kao Miura of Japan.
“I am still in shock,” said Malinin. “I don’t know how I pulled that off.”
Miura, the leader after the short program, fell on his opening quadruple loop, but went on to land three others to stay on the medal stand. South Korea’s Junhwan Cha finished with a total of 264.05 for bronze.
The women’s short program preceded the men’s final, with reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto taking the top spot with a 71.72. She doubled the second jump in her triple fliptriple toe loop combination and skated less securely than usual. Despite the troubles, the difficulty of her program still gave her the edge over runner-up Isabeau Levito of the US.
“Today I think I saw mistakes on every element I could make a mistake on,” said Sakamoto. “Overall I am not really satisfied or happy with where I am in terms of the performance.”
In her first Senior Grand Prix, Levito made up for some struggles in practice Friday. The teenager was called on an under-rotation on her triple Lutz-triple loop combination, but still earned a 71.30 score.
Fellow American Amber Glenn delivered the program of the afternoon for third place, hitting a triple flip-triple toe loop to score a 68.42. Glenn relished having the audience behind her wholeheartedly.
“I felt the feeling that causes me to skate, the reason that I love competing, the reason why I do what I do, is for moments like that,” said Glenn.
Competing in her first full international Grand Prix since 2016, Gracie Gold landed a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, but fell on her triple loop, finishing fifth with a 64.18.
Heading into Sunday’s long program, the Newton native admitted that shutting off memories of past competitions, like her disappointing fourth-place finish at the 2016 World Championships in Boston, will be key.
“Sometimes I miss being a little bit more naïve because I have so much history to draw on,” said Gold. “I have a whole Rolodex of times where I fell in the short, and didn’t come back in the long. Same with skating in Boston, there are a certain number of events you can compare it to. I’m just trying to start each event this year with a clean slate.”
The pairs event wrapped up Saturday, with Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier capturing the gold medal, with an overall score of 201.39. Though the reigning world champions made a mistake on a throw jump, they were pleased with their first competition of the season.
“Tonight was a fight,” said Frazier. “There was a lot of grit out there tonight, and I’m very proud of Alexa and I for just trusting each other to get through that program.”
Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps took second place with a 197.89. Their Cleopatra program featured several innovative lifts and a unique forward outside death spiral. Fellow Canadians Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier finished third.
Saturday’s competition began with ice dance. Defending US champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates ruled the rhythm dance, with their ballroom-style Latin program earning an 82.63 despite some mistakes.
“We really like the rhythm dance we created this summer,” said Bates. “We feel like it has loads of potential. We did have some technical issues, especially on the lift, I’m not sure you could tell. It was still a good start.”
Fellow Americans Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker finished second with a more comedic take on the mandated Latin rhythm. Skating to Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps and Cuban Pete, the duo’s dance was one of their most solid outings this early in a competitive season in their careers, scoring a 79.12. Canadians Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain le Gac finished a surprising third with a 72.12.
Both the women’s and ice dance competitions finish Sunday.