Shoma Uno (JPN) captured the lead in a competitive Men's Short Program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal on Thursday © ISU
Reigning ISU World Champion Shoma Uno (JPN) holds a narrow lead after the Men’s Short Program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal (CAN) on Thursday.
World Champion Uno takes narrow lead
Reigning World Champion Shoma Uno of Japan edged teammate Yuma Kagiyama and Ilia Malinin (USA) for a narrow lead after an exciting competition in the Men’s Short Program.
Performing to “Clair de Lune”, Uno nailed a quad flip, quad toe-triple toe, triple Axel and level-four spins and footwork. The two-time Olympic medalist set a season’s best of 107.72 points with his exquisite performance.
“I'm glad that all of my hard work paid off and I was able to perform well today. I felt really well while skating and the audience was great and they pushed me to skate and perform even better. Although my combination jump was not the best one I could have done, my first jump received very high marks, which helped me to get a high score overall.”
Kagiyama delivered a smooth performance to “Believer”, highlighted by a quadruple Salchow, quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop, triple Axel and excellent spins and steps. The 2024 Four Continents Champion earned 106.35, just below his season’s best.
“At first, I was 20 per cent nervous and 80 per cent excited for my skate,” the 2022 Olympic silver medalist said. “But even in my practice, I try to train and skate as if it is for a competition, so I was well prepared for the competition and I was not too worried about the event. When my name was called, all the pressure disappeared and I felt so happy to be able to skate, especially because I was not able to compete for one year due to my injury.”
Yuma Kagiyama (JPN) finished second in the Men's Short Program Thursday in front of a supportive crowd in Montreal © ISU
Kagiyama also appreciated the crowd.
“The audience was so warm and supportive to me during my skate and I was able to skate with a positive mindset thanks to them. At the end of my skate, I was very happy and excited about my performance and then I turned around to see all the people standing and cheering for me, which made me even happier.”
Malinin completed a quad toe, quad Lutz-triple toe, triple Axel and level-four spins in his crisp “Malaguena” routine to score 105.97 points.
“I was definitely really focused. Just us being able to make sure I had everything under control. It wasn't a program I was really happy about but I was glad I was able to get through it,” the ISU Grand Prix Final Champion said.
Ilia Malinin (USA) is less than two points behind the leader after the Men's Short Program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal © ISU
It wasn't easy, he said.
“The past couple of weeks leading up to it have been tough for me. I had a lot of problems: injuries, boot problems. I looked at the jumps that for me are the most consistent and are the easiest for me to replicate no matter how tired or how much pressure I have. I'm glad I just kept going and believed in myself, and my family to support me, and I was able to come here and deliver that tonight.”
Jason Brown (USA) was fourth with a clean skate (93.87 points), closely followed by 2023 ISU European bronze medalist Lukas Britschgi (SUI) with 93.41 points. Nikolaj Memola (ITA) rounds out the top six with 93.10 points. European Champion Adam Siao Him Fa (FRA) made some errors and is currently ranked 19th.
Jason Brown (USA) is fourth after the Men's Short Program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal on Thursday © ISU
Schedule of the event
The schedule of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships is as follows:
Wednesday, March 20: Pairs & Women's Short Programs
Thursday, March 21: Men's Short Program, Pairs Free Skating
Friday, March 22: Rhythm Dance & Women's Free Skating
Saturday, March 23: Free Dance & Men's Free Skating
Sunday, March 24: Exhibition Gala
For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official website. Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldFigure and #FigureSkating.
Where to watch the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2024:
The ISU World Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here.
Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.
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