A jumping king’s unlikely plea for the spin game
Malinin let emotions course through him as the world record score flashed on the board after his free skate at the 2025 Grand Prix Final. He screamed, covered his face and clutched his hair, elated by the song that smashed his previous record by almost 10 points.
A day later he said the elation was mixed with surprise.
“I was impressed with the score I got, to be honest thought I would get lower‘ said the skater. “From how I felt, the second score was lacking in my opinion. There’s a lot more I can do and that was it a jumping competition for me.”
Malinin deserved an unparalleled one 146.07 points for its element score, but 92.17 for his partial score, less than Kagiyama Yuma. He also had his flying sit spin and step sequence rated as level 3.
Although these elements cost Malinin points, he strangely advocates that they be given a higher value in the figure skating rulebook.
‘That’s just a better way force people to try to improveMalinin said. ‘Right now the jumps are the most valuable elements, so everyone will be trying to master their jumps and they won’t necessarily have to work on everything else just because they might sacrifice it by adding another quad, for example.
“But if we raise everything to a similar level, then everyone will try to work on the spins, the steps and the footwork so that everything is worth taking the risk to work on it.”
The risk-loving Malinin, who turned 21 on December 2, has certainly had enough of it lately.
In the short program in Nagoya he attempted a quad Axel, a jump that only he has ever done in competition, as part of a jump combination. Under-rotation and missing the second half of the combo saw him drop to an uncharacteristic third place, but Malinin made up for it with a free skate that has been talked about in the skating world ever since.
He leaves Japan a year older, with a third Grand Prix Final title, a world record, three suitcases and a new gift to enjoy.
“I treated myself a little on my birthday,” Malinin admitted. “I bought myself a gaming console and if I went home after the short program and didn’t win, I would feel really bad because that cost a lot of money! So I’m glad I made it right.”
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