Figure Skating-Malinin opens season in style with Skate America title

Ilia Malinin won Skate America for the fourth time, opening his season with a victory that paired his trademark technical difficulty with a more expressive performance. The three-time world champion’s choreographic spin, inspired by his mother, delighted the crowd as he began building towards the season ahead.

Malinin scored 284.31, finishing 9.58 points ahead of Italy’s Daniel Grassl, who rose from fourth after the short programme to take second with the event’s strongest free skate. Israel’s Tamir Kuperman placed third with 248.55 in his senior Grand Prix debut. Malinin skipped his signature quadruple Axel, landed several other difficult jumps and performed his trademark backflip; he next competes at the NHK Trophy in two weeks.