American skates to gold medal

Ilia Malinin could have been thrown off by a fall on his opening jump — the quad axel — at the Grand Prix Final.

Then again, nobody else in the world even tries it.

So instead, the 19-yearold American brushed off the mistake, put together a near-flawless free skate the rest of the way, and easily topped Japanese rival Shoma Uno to win the gold medal Saturday at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing. Malinin finished with a career-best 314.66 points, the sixth-highest men's total in history under the current scoring system.

Uno made a mistake on a triple axel and finished with 297.34 points. Yuma Kagiyama of Japan was third.

“I'm feeling just amazing. I just don't have words for what just happened,” said Malinin, who captured the title 24 years after his mother, Tatiana Malinina, won the Grand Prix Final representing Uzbekistan in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“I'm still trying to express and think of what just went on," Malinin said. "It's incredible to me. I've never felt like this before.”

Malinin capped a banner day for the U.S. after Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the ice dance for the first time.

In the women's event, two-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto won her first Grand Prix Final with a free skate set to music from Lauryn Hill. She was indeed “Feeling Good” after scoring 225.70 points, easily outdistancing second-place Loena Hendrickx of Belgium and Japanese countrywoman Hana Yoshida, who overtook Nina Pinzarrone for bronze.

Sakamoto opened with her now-signature double axel before landing seven triple jumps, including a triple flip-triple toe loop in combination and a triple loop-triple toe loop to wrap up her program and the title.

“This year, I had a good start with the Grand Prix," Sakamoto said, "so I really wanted to keep it going like that. Being able to get first place everywhere until the Final became a strength for me, I think. So I think it will make me feel confident going forward.”

Sakamoto had finished off the podium in two previous disappointing Grand Prix Finals.

Chock and Bates knew something about disappointment. The American ice dancers finished second in 2015 and then settled for three more silver medals over the years, always putting together programs that left the crowd breathless but were not quite good enough for gold. That included last year, when Chock and Bates were second to their Canadian rivals, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

The reigning world champions finished with 221.61 points on Saturday, while Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy were second with 215.51.