World champion Ilia Malinin won Skate America on Sunday for the third consecutive year, altering his free skate on the fly after an early mistake and punctuating the program with a backflip that had been banned in competition until this season.
The two-time and reigning U.S. champion scored 290.12 points to finish ahead of Kevin Aymoz of France, whose career-best free skate left him with 282.88 points and earned a standing ovation inside Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas.
Kao Miura of Japan, who was second after his short program, finished third with 278.67 points. «It was a pretty challenging moment for me, just stepping on the ice.
I felt way more nervous than usual,» said Malinin, the early favorite for gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. «That may have played a part in the whole program.» The ice dance competition was to be decided later Sunday in the final event of the season-opening Grand Prix.