Ilia Malinin made a spectacular start to the 2024-25 figure skating season at the ISU Challenger Series Lombardia Trophy 2024 on Friday (13 September). Competing for the first time as a world champion, the 19-year-old American posted a new personal best short program score of 107.25 in Bergamo, Italy. The 19-year-old world champion set a new short program personal best to lead Japanese pair Kagiyama Yuma and Sato Shun by over eight points.

Malinin’s Artistic Growth

After his world title triumph in March, Malinin told Olympics.com that he still wanted “to try to find my style of skating” as he works towards the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina. His skate to “Running’ by NF certainly delivered in terms of improved artistry with his musical interpretation on point. He earned the highest program component score in the field, while the ‘Quad God’ showed his technical mastery once more with a quad flip, triple Axel and quad Lutz-triple toe loop all landed in style.

Kagiyama Yuma’s Steady Performance

Behind him again was Kagiyama Yuma who claimed his third world silver medal in Montreal in March. The Japanese took a step on his opening jump, a quad Salchow, but was otherwise solid in his skate to Garou’s version of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’. Despite a fine performance, Kagiyama finds himself more than eight points behind Malinin after scoring 98.68 on his first competitive skate of the new season.

Sato Shun’s Close Call

Skating in the final group, Kagiyama’s old junior rival Sato Shun came close to his career-best score to take third on the day. The silver medallist from February’s Four Continents Championships was only just shy of his compatriot’s mark, hitting a quad Lutz, quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination and triple Axel to score 98.39. The three are a long way clear of the rest going into Sunday’s free skate with Georgia’s Nika Egadze fourth on 76.35, just ahead of Japan’s 2023 world junior champion Miura Kao.

American Women’s Dominance

Earlier on Friday, Amber Glenn got the better of three-time reigning world champion Sakamoto Kaori to take the women’s short program. Reigning US national champion Amber Glenn holds the lead after the short program of the ISU Challenger Series Lombardia Trophy 2024 in Bergamo, Italy, on Friday (13 September 2024). Three-time reigning world champion Sakamoto Kaori is second in her first competition of the 2024-25 figure skating season. Another American, Sarah Everhardt, lies third ahead of Georgia's 2023 European champion Anastasiia Gubanova.

Glenn’s Artistic Expression and Technical Prowess

Sporting a new blonde hairstyle, Sakamoto performed a tango-inspired routine to music by Gidon Kremer. She opened with a double Axel followed by a triple Lutz and then a slightly sketchy triple flip-triple toe loop combination. Japan's Beijing 2022 bronze medallist scored 73.53, enough for the lead at the time, but she was soon displaced by Glenn. Skating to Janet Jackson's 'This Time', the 24-year-old landed a triple Axel, triple flip-triple toe loop combination and a triple loop in a near-flawless display. She earned 75.71, an improvement of more than four points on her previous best short program, to take the overnight lead. After winning her first national title in January, Glenn finished 10th at March's World Championships in Montreal. She also has two ISU Grand Prix podium finishes to her name. The women's free skate takes place on Saturday.

Everhardt’s Solid Performance

Haymarket resident Sarah Everhardt finished second Saturday at the ISU Challenger Series Lombardia Trophy 2024 in Bergamo, Italy. Fellow American Amber Glenn, the reigning U.S. national champion, won the skating event. Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto (Japan) was third. Everhardt cracked the 200-point barrier for the first time in her skating career by totaling 201.90 points. Glenn totaled 212.89 points and Kaori 199.94. Earlier this year, Everhardt won the Cranberry Cup International in Boston. Everhardt has been added to the Finlandia Trophy competition Nov. 15-17 in Helsinki, Finland. Everhardt burst on to the scene in January when she finished fourth at the 2024 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Columbus, Ohio. This was Everhardt's debut at the senior nationals.

Conclusion: A Promising Start

The first competition of the season has provided an exciting glimpse of what's to come in figure skating. With Malinin and Glenn starting their seasons with wins, and the rest of the field showing promising performances, it's clear that this year will be full of thrilling competition and exciting storylines.