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US skate star Malinin leads after short programme in Olympics / Photo: © AFP
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US skate star Malinin leads after short programme in Olympics
US figure skating star Ilia Malinin seized the lead after the men's singles short programme at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday to stay on track for a second gold in his debut Games.
The 21-year-old produced a stunning performance while competing to a medley from "The Lost Crown" video game, scoring 108.16 points to put him in pole position going into Friday's free skating final.
Victory would give him a first individual Olympic title after he helped seal team gold for the United States on Sunday at Milano Ice Skating Arena.
The two-time world champion leads Japan's Yuma Kagiyama by a comfortable 5.09 points (103.07), with France's Adam Siao Him Fa in third place on 102.55.
Malinin, the self-styled 'Quad God', who is unbeaten in more than two years, pulled out two four-rotation quadruple jumps and a triple axel during an assured performance.
An acrobatic closing section featuring a backflip, aerial twist and a one-armed cartwheel captivated the crowd, who cheered wildly.
Kagiyama, 22, failed to reproduce the form that gave him the lead over Malinin in the same routine in the team short programme just days ago.
The Olympic singles silver medallist from Beijing hit two quadruple jumps in his routine to a remix of "I Wish" but stumbled on his triple axel.
Siao Him Fa earned a personal-best score for his clean skate, a tribute to Leonardo da Vinci, that included two quadruple jumps as he bids to put France back on the men's Olympic podium for the first time since Philippe Candeloro won bronze in 1998.
O. Karlsson--BTZ
