Above: Ilia Malinin reacts following his powerful free skate at Grand Prix de France. Photo by Getty Images
By Troy Schwindt
Ilia Malinin delivered a powerful statement to kick off the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, winning Grand Prix de France in Angers, France, Sunday by more than 40 points.
The two-time and reigning World champion landed five quads, three in combination, in his free skate to “The Ball” by Asaf Avidan, “The Smell of the Sea” by Alan Mayer and “Code Duello” by Power-Haus and Sergiu-Dan Muresan. He posted a segment score of 215.78 and an overall total of 321.00.
Malinin has now won 11 consecutive individual competitions. The last time he didn’t take gold was when he placed second at Grand Prix de France. His win streak has included two Grand Prix Final crowns, two World championships and two U.S. titles.
In his free skate at Angers IceParc, Malinin was nearly flawless. His final jumping pass in the program, a quad Salchow-triple Axel sequence, produced a program-high 20.99 points. Six of his 12 elements earned scores of more than 10.40 points.
Malinin competes for the second and final time in the Grand Prix Series in two weeks at Skate Canada International. He is the two-time and reigning Grand Prix Final champion.
Andrew Torgashev, the 2024 Grand Prix de France bronze medalist, rebounded from a disappointing short program to place fifth in the free skate and sixth overall. The reigning U.S. silver medalist landed an opening quad toe loop and received Level 4 credit for two spins en route to a free skate score of 161.84, just 0.38 points off his international personal best.
Torgashev posted an overall score of 233.36 for sixth place.
Maxim Naumov, the three-time and reigning U.S. pewter medalist, established a new international personal-best free skate score of 151.47. Program highlights included a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination in the second half that earned him a program-high 12.37 points, and two Level 4 spins.
He finished eighth in the free skate and finished ninth overall with an overall score of 226.74.
The ice dance teams of Eva Pate and Logan Bye and Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
Pate and Bye, skating to music from The Lion King movies, placed eighth in the free dance with a score of 107.36. Their straight line and rotational combination lift received a Level 4 and a program-high 12.82 points. They posted a total score of 178.68.
Bratti and Somerville finished seventh in the free dance with 107.71 points. They performed to “Nureyev” from the movie The White Crow. Their Level 4 curve lift generated a program-best 13.37 points. They finished with an overall score of 172.80. The duo earned the bronze medal at Grand Prix de France in 2024.
For more on Grand Prix de France, tune in to Rinkside: Olympic Season. Host Nick McCarvel will break down highlights from the event, preview next week's Grand Prix stop, interview athletes and more. Watch on the U.S. Figure Skating YouTube channel or listen wherever you get your podcasts Mondays at 12 p.m. ET following each Grand Prix event of the season.
For full results, visit the Grand Prix Central Competition Series on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
