American figure skater Ilia Malinin won his third consecutive Grand Prix Final in record-setting fashion on Saturday in Nagoya, Japan.
Malinin became the first skater to land seven quad jumps in one program. He also improved his own world record for points in a long program by almost 10 points.
The 21-year-old from Virginia already was the only skater ever to land a quad Axel in a competition. On Saturday, he added a quad flip, quad loop, quad toe loop, quad Salchow and two quad Lutzes.
A two-time world champion, Malinin attempted a seven-quad program at the 2024 Grand Prix Final in France but was unsuccessful.
His timing couldn’t have been better as it gave him momentum for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, where the figure skating competition begins Feb. 6. He enters as the gold medal favorite.
“It was one of the best skates that I’ve ever had,” Malinin said, per Olympics.com. “I really went out on the ice and I had to fight for every single element and I was so glad I was able to do that in front of the Japanese crowd. Without them, I don’t think that would have been possible.”
He finished ahead of two Japanese skaters, topping Kagiyama Yuma by almost 30 points. Sato Shun was third.
–Field Level Media
