“Quad God” Ilia Malinin (USA) reigned supreme at the ISU Grand Prix de France in Angers to win with 40 points to spare, as the first ISU Grand Prix event of the season wrapped up Sunday, with an exciting Men’s Free Skating. 

Ilia Malinin (USA) scores runaway victory

Two-time and reigning ISU World Champion Ilia Malinin (USA) once again was in a class of his own, winning his sixth ISU Grand Prix gold medal with 40 points to spare. To the delight of the home crowd, two-time ISU European Champion Adam Siao Him Fa of France rallied from fifth place to claim the silver medal. Georgia’s Nika Egadze earned the bronze, his first ISU Grand Prix medal.

Ilia Malinin (USA) wins in the Men's Free Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Angers, France © ISU

Malinin delivered what the crowd at the sold-out Angers Ice Parc wanted to see: quads and spectacular acrobatic moves, as well as a captivating program. 

Performing to “The Ball” and “The Smell of the Sea”, the US Champion reeled off five quadruple jumps (the second Lutz was slightly under-rotated) including a quad Salchow-triple Axel sequence and impressive footwork. Malinin achieved a season’s best of 215.78 points and racked up 321.00 points total, another season’s best. 

“I feel very confident and happy with how things went,” Malinin commented. “I did feel very nervous going out there today. The goal for today was simply to make it to the end in one piece. That’s always the goal for competitions. I’m sure I’ll be adding more technical content as the season progresses,” he continued.

Malinin included philosophical quotes into his program and made the voiceovers himself. 

His favorite quote is ‘Begin when light no longer reaches, the path is yet to be made’.

“This quote really gives you the idea to find your own way in life,” the 20-year-old explained. “This is something I’ve always been thinking about, no matter if it’s in skating, or in other parts of life. I’m always telling myself to go my own way.”

Malinin collected 15 points towards the ISU Grand Prix Final qualification and will compete again in two weeks at Skate Canada International. 

Sitting in fifth following the Short Program, Siao Him Fa had nothing to lose and came out fighting. 

Adam Siao Him Fa (FRA) in the Men's Free Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Angers, France © ISU

The 2024 ISU World bronze medalist nailed four quads and two triple Axels in his routine “The Creation of Adam”, inspired by Michelangelo’s painting. The Frenchman set a new season’s best with 196.08 points and totaled 280.95 points. 

“The main difference today was that I was having fun,“ Siao Him Fa said. “I didn’t care about results, points, anything. I was just enjoying the moment. Actually, it’s funny, in training, the Short Program was going better than the Free Skate, but it turned out the opposite here. 

“The relief right now is so big. I’m thankful to my fans, who gave me so much support, love and positive energy,” he concluded.

Egadze turned in another strong performance of his program to “Sailing” and “Verve” that featured a quad toe, quad Salchow and two triple Axels. 

Nika Egadze (GEO) in the Men's Free Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Angers, France © ISU

The Georgian Champion earned 163.74 points for the Free Skating and 259.41 points overall to finally win his first ISU Grand Prix medal after coming close before.

“I am so happy to have finally won the medal,” a delighted Nika Egadze said. “Before that, I had five Grand Prix where I finished fourth, so I am really glad. Today I was fighting through my program. I am glad I kept fighting.”

Reigning ISU European Champion Lukas Britschgi (SUI) came back strong from the Short Program to move up from seventh to fourth place at 249.04 points. Francois Pitot (FRA) placed fifth on 233.98 points while Andrew Torgashev (USA) pulled up from 12^th to sixth at 233.36 points. Kao Miura, who was third in the Short Program, made several errors to drop to 10th (209.57 points).

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continues next week with the Cup of China in Chongqing (CHN).

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