NAGOYA, Japan, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Double world champion Ilia Malinin shattered his own world record for the men’s singles free programme to win gold at the Grand Prix Final on Saturday, setting the bar sky high ahead of the Milano Cortina Olympics.
The 21-year-old American landed a jaw-dropping seven quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel — a jump only he has landed in competition — to score 238.24 points, crushing the previous world-best 228.97 points he recorded at Skate Canada International earlier in the season.
Malinin, known as the “Quad God”, had started the day in an unfamiliar position in third after Friday’s short programme after a risky quad Axel-triple toe loop combination backfired. But his free skate score saw him climb to gold with 332.29, just shy of American Nathan Chen’s world record of 335.30.
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan took the silver with 302.41 points while Japanese compatriot Shun Sato was third with 292.08.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; editing by Clare Fallon)
