Two-time ISU World Champion Ilia Malinin (USA) jumped to the lead in the Men’s Short Program as the Grand Prix de France continued Saturday in Angers (FRA). 

Ilia Malinin (USA) leads Men Short Program

Reigning ISU World Champion Ilia Malinin (USA) skated to a sublimely confident 10-point lead, followed by Nika Egadze of Georgia and Japan’s Kao Miura.

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

Top-seeded Malinin skated last and did not disappoint with his strong performance to “Dies Irae” and “The Lost Crown”. He nailed a quad flip, triple Axel and quad Lutz-triple toe. The ISU Grand Prix Final Champion went all-out in his step sequence, and the capacity crowd at the Angers Ice Parc loved his seemingly effortless acrobatic elements. Malinin scored 105.22 points. 

“I think the first step to that (improving his score) would be to really work on the quality and the cleanliness of the program,” Malinin said. 

“Overall, it's a really good starting position. I feel really confident in everything, but it was a little on the sloppier side that I'm used to. There's a lot more that I can improve, just the quality of the jumps, the steps and the spins, to get everything more organized and cleaned up.”

Skating to Georgian music by Mgzavrebi, Egadze produced a quad Salchow-triple toeloop, quad toe and triple Axel to achieve a personal best score of 95.67 points. 

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

He discovered the music when he was helping younger Georgian skaters with their choreography during the summer. “This music is really close to my heart,” he shared. 

The Georgian is competing in his third event in as many weeks, but he didn’t let it show. 

“I think my biggest mistake was to do three competitions in a row, but I was fine today,” Egadze noted. “I hope I will survive the long program tomorrow, and that I will get one day rest. After that I’ll go to Skate Canada.”

Miura landed a quad Salchow-triple toe combination, right out of the gate, in his program to “Conquest of Spaces”, but he under-rotated his triple Axel and quadruple toeloop. The Japanese skater earned 87.25 points. 

Kao Miura (JPN) in the Men's Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Angers, France © ISU

Miura was aware of the Japanese podium sweep in the Women’s competition and was full of admiration. 

“Especially Ami’s  performance was, I would say, insane. It was really amazing. But I thought that I should just concentrate on what I had to do and get the best result that I could. I think I managed that.”

Perhaps his approach to the right kind of nutrition will help him do just that, as he was the head chef for himself and teammate Tatsuya Tsuboi, who came fourth just behind him on 87.04 points.

“In our hotel, we have a kitchen in our room,” Miura explained. “On the first day, I cooked some great meat with salt and pepper. The next day, I cooked it with soy sauce and garlic. It was really good. I do the cooking, I do the cleanup, and Tatsuya brought the plates. I'm hoping that he'll contribute a little bit more,” Miura said, laughing.

Two-time ISU European Champion Adam Siao Him Fa (FRA) is currently ranked fifth after he struggled with his quad Lutz (84.87 points). Mihhail Selevko (EST) rounds up the top six at 80.17 points. 

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