American Malinin earns Olympic redemption with world gold

American Ilia Malinin has returned to the pinnacle of his sport as he skated to a third world title on Saturday and shrugged off the shock of an eighth-place finish at last month's Olympics.

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France added their first world ice dance title to last month's Olympic gold to cap a dream debut season.

The 21-year-old Malinin, who arrived in Prague carrying the weight of a collapse that cost him Olympic gold and intent on redemption, scored 218.11 points for a free programme that included five quadruple jumps, and 329.40 points overall.

"I definitely felt very pushed and loved from the crowd," Malinin said. "Every single element I did, they were all behind me and I felt that the whole way through my programme.

"My expectation was to leave the long programme in one piece and I definitely think that happened."

Olympic silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan climbed from sixth after the short programme to finish second with 306.67 after his elegant and flawless free skate to Puccini's Turandot.

His compatriot Shun Sato, the bronze medallist last month in Milan, was third with 288.54 after his programme to Stravinsky's Firebird.

Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, the Olympic champion in Milan, did not compete in Prague.

Malinin carried a commanding lead into the final at Prague's O2 Arena after a personal‑best score of 111.29 in the short programme put him more than nine points clear.

His free programme, entitled "The Voice" and featuring his own voiceover, fell short of his massive world-record score of 238.24 at the Grand Prix Final in December, when he performed seven quad jumps, including the quad Axel, a jump only he has landed in competition.

But it was a huge improvement of almost 62 points from Milan.

Malinin tripled the quad Axel, the jump that started the unravelling of his free programme at the Olympics, but his five quads were enough to remind the sport why he remains its most formidable force.

"It was really challenging and really hard," he told the crowd. "But with you guys, I was able to make it through."

FOURNIER BEAUDRY AND CIZERON TAKE GOLD

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, six-point leaders after the short dance, scored 138.07 points for their elegant and lyrical free dance to the soundtrack of the movie The Whale, and 230.81 points overall.

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada won silver for their fifth world medal with 211.52 points. Americans Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik were third with 209.20.

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, the first ice dancers to win a world title in their debut season, narrowly missed the world free dance record of 138.41 held by Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, a remarkable accomplishment in only their sixth competition together.

Both had stepped away from competing before teaming up this time last year.

Cizeron won five world titles with previous partner Gabriella Papadakis before she retired after the 2022 Beijing Olympics, while Fournier Beaudry had a long career for Canada and Denmark with previous partner Nikolaj Sorensen.

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron made an immediate impact in their debut season through their technical excellence and calmness under intense scrutiny, reshaping the competitive hierarchy in a matter of months.

Chock and Bates, silver medallists in Milan and triple world champions, decided to skip the world championships.