“Quad God” Ilia Malinin (USA) did his nickname justice and ruled in the Men’s Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada International in Halifax (CAN) on Saturday. It was an exciting afternoon at the Scotiabank Center with the Men lighting up the ice with their spectacular performances.

ISU World Champion Malinin was out of this world in skating to a 10-point lead over Japan’s Shun Sato and Sota Yamamoto.

Malinin looked cool and composed when he took the ice after Sato’s great performance and then switched into action mode with the first notes of the song “Running”. The U.S. Champion opened with a quad flip and followed up with a triple Axel out of nowhere and a quad Lutz-triple toe combination. The crowd roared when Malinin performed his trademark “Raspberry Twist”, a kind of half salto that is not a jump but a choreographed element. The 19-year-old scored 106.22 points. 

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

“I felt really relaxed today and it was a lot easier to skate,” Malinin said. “Last week (at the ISU Grand Prix Skate America) it was the first big competition this season, so maybe that brought a little more pressure on me. Today it was a lot easier, when I stepped on the ice it felt a lot more under my feet and I was really able to control everything in that program, so I was more aware of myself.”

Sato produced an excellent performance to “Ladies in Lavender” as well, completing a quad Lutz, quad toe-triple toe and triple Axel. The ISU Grand Prix Finalist scored 96.52 points. 

“I was very happy that I could land all of my jumps today, but I could have probably pushed a little harder on my steps,” Sato said. “Tomorrow (in the Free Skating), I’ll make sure that I do both of the jumps and the steps and the whole program.”

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

Skating to “Postcards from Far Away”, Yamamoto excited the spectators with his quad toe-triple toe, quad Salchow and difficult spins for a season’s best of 92.16 points. 

“I’ve been working really hard on my short program, so at the end of the day I was able to trust myself,” the 2023 Skate Canada Champion said. “I probably won’t give myself a 100 per cent, but I am pretty satisfied with what I did today. Tomorrow I will again trust my training and trust myself.”

Sota Yamamoto (JPN) - ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada 2024 Halifax - ©International Skating Union (ISU)

The 2023 ISU World silver medalist Junhwan Cha (KOR) put out season’s best performance as well with 88.38 points. Stephen Gogolev (CAN) made the home audience proud with another clean performance and 82.70 points. Vladimir Litvintsev (AZE) placed sixth (79.11 points) in this high-level event, followed by crowd favorite Jason Brown (USA), who missed his triple Axel (79.03 points). 

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)