“Quad God” Ilia Malinin (USA) reigned supreme at the ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada International in Halifax (CAN) on Sunday, scoring a runaway victory and qualifying to the ISU Grand Prix Final as the first Skater. 

In doing so, Malinin continued a distinguished family history in Halifax. In 1999, Tatiana Malinina (UZB) won the inaugural ISU Four Continents Championships in Halifax, while her future husband Roman Skorniakov (UZB) finished ninth in the Men’s event. Now, 25 years later, their son Ilia Malinin (USA), with his father and coach at the boards, scored a comprehensive victory in the same venue. Japan’s Shun Sato clinched the silver medal, while Junhwan Cha of Korea moved up from fourth to earn the bronze. 

Malinin once again was in a league of his own, exciting the crowd with his spectacular jumps and choreo elements, such as his new backflip. The 2024 ISU World Champions put out a passionate performance of his program to “I’m Not a Vampire”, nailing a quad flip (slightly under-rotated), quad Lutz, quad toe-triple toe, as well as a triple flip-triple Axel sequence and difficult spins and footwork. He only tripled the planned quad loop and stepped out of it. The U.S. Champion scored 195.60 points and totaled 301.82 points. 

Ilia Malinin (USA) - ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada 2024 Halifax - ©International Skating Union (ISU)

“I’m always challenging myself. My main competitor is just being able to fight through a program start to finish,” Malinin said. “Of course, my goal was to go for that quad loop here as well, but it didn’t happen. I have a little more time for the Final to really make sure I can do it under pressure or when I’m doing the run-throughs so that it becomes pretty easy to do it. 

“It was very tough doing these two back-to-back Grands Prix and overall I am pretty satisfied with my performance and how I was able to manage this.” 

Skating to “Nostos”, Sato produced two clean quads and four triple jumps but he missed his quad Lutz and second triple Axel. With 164.64 points, the Japanese Skater ranked fourth in the Free Skating but overall held on to the silver medal at 261.16 points. 

Shun Sato (JPN) - ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada 2024 Halifax - ©International Skating Union (ISU)

“I made some mistakes in my jumps which was disappointing,” Sato said. “I am glad I was able to land the quad flip. For the Short Program I was able to skate clean, which was my goal. In the Free Skating, my goal would have been to land the quad flip and quad Lutz and I couldn’t do that. Hopefully, I’ll do it at my next competition.”

Cha proved that he is back in the game at the ISU Grand Prix circuit after a poor performance at Skate Canada a year ago. The 2023 ISU World silver medalist delivered a sophisticated Tango routine to “Balada para un loco” that included a quadruple Salchow and toeloop. The Korean Champion posted a seasons best of 171.93 points and was second in the Free Skating. Overall, he accumulated 260.31 points to take third place. 

“I fought until the finish, this was a good start for my first Grand Prix,” Cha said. “I didn’t have good memory of Skate Canada last year and I wanted to create good memory this time. As for my mistakes, I can improve that until the next event, so I’m not worried about it.”

Junhwan Cha (KOR) - ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada 2024 Halifax - ©International Skating Union (ISU)

Sota Yamamoto (JPN) slipped from third to fourth place (257.00 points), while Vladimir Litvintsev (AZE) finished in fifth place (222.90 points). Gabriele Frangipani (ITA) jumped from 10th to sixth with 222.57 points. 

With his two victories at Skate America and Skate Canada, Malinin collected the maximum of 30 points and is the first Skater this season to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Sato (13 points) will try to get his spot in Grenoble at the Cup of China, while Cha (11 points) will compete again at the Finlandia Trophy (FIN).

For full entries, schedules & results, see the ISU Grand Prix Event Page & ISU GP Skate Canada Event Page & Official Skate Canada Event Website. 

Check out the ISU Grand Prix Standings to find out who is on their way to qualify for the Final:

Men      Women            Pair Skating     Ice Dance

What & When

The schedule of Skate Canada International is as follows

Friday, Oct 25: Pairs & Women’s Short Programs

Saturday, Oct 26: Rhythm Dance, Men’s Short Program, Pairs & Women’s Free Skating

Sunday, Oct 27: Men’s Free Skating & Free Dance

Follow the ISU Grand Prix events:

The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event are available below:

1. 25 - 27 Oct 2024                       Skate Canada International in Halifax (CAN)
2. 01 - 03 Nov 2024                      Grand Prix de France in Angers (FRA)
3. 08 - 10 Nov 2024                      NHK Trophy in Tokyo (JPN)
4. 15- 17 Nov 2024                       Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN)  
5. 22 - 24 Nov 2024                      Cup of China in Chongqing (CHN)

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final: 

1. 05 - 08 Dec 2024                        Grenoble (FRA)