U.S. figure skating star Ilia Malinin dominated the field and captured men's gold at Skate Canada International on Sunday. The reigning world champion received a standing ovation for his vampire-themed free program — which included a backflip — and won by more than 40 points to claim a Grand Prix title on consecutive weekends.
Malinin also won Skate America in Allen, Texas, last Sunday. "I'm pretty happy with my skate today," Malinin said. "It was very tough doing these two back-to-back Grand Prix, and overall I'm pretty satisfied with my performance and how I was able to manage this." The 19-year-old still scored 301.82 total points.
Japan's Shun Sato (261.16) won silver while South Korea's Junhwan Cha (260.31) took bronze. WATCH | Malinin glides to men's title at Skate Canada: American Ilia Malinin easily wins Skate Canada men's title in Halifax Malinin's only mistake was on a quad loop during the fourth segment of his program. "I'm a little bit bummed out with the loop," he said. "But it is what it is.
When it happened I just had to push it aside for now and continue with the rest of the program. "I'm always challenging myself.