Malinin builds big lead at figure skating Grand Prix Final and Hase and Volodin win pairs

By The Associated Press

Ilia Malinin, of the United States, competes in the men's short program segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Laurent Cipriani]

GRENOBLE, France (AP) — World champion Ilia Malinin has taken a big stride toward retaining his figure skating Grand Prix Final title with an imposing 12-point lead in the short program in Grenoble. The 20-year-old American skater scored 105.43 points for the lead, narrowly missing his personal best on Friday. Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan is a distant second on 93.49 ahead of Saturday’s free skate after falling on his opening quad lutz. Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin retained their Grand Prix Final title in the pairs event and Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States took the lead in the ice dance.