Olympic and world silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan leads after the short program at Grand Prix Finland, where he’s looking to book a spot in December’s Grand Prix Final for a showdown with world champion Ilia Malinin.
Kagiyama, a 21-year-old from Japan, tallied 103.97 points on Friday, landing a quadruple Salchow, a quad toe loop-triple toe combination and a triple Axel. Only Malinin, a 19-year-old from Virginia who is not competing in Finland, has scored higher this season.
Kagiyama leads by a significant 13.19 points going into Saturday’s free skate, which airs live on Peacock.
Kagiyama was the only skater within 49 points of Malinin at last March’s world championships — yet still a gaping 24.11 points behind.
GRAND PRIX FINLAND: Broadcast Schedule
Kagiyama and Malinin could face off at the Grand Prix Final in France, where all of the world’s top-ranked skaters gather for the first time since last season’s worlds.
The Final takes the top six per discipline over the six-event Grand Prix Series. Top skaters compete twice over the series and are split into different competitions.
Malinin won the first two events last month — Skate America and Skate Canada — to lock up his place in the Final. Kagiyama, who won last week at NHK Trophy, will likely join him with a podium finish in Finland, the fifth of six events in the series.
Later Friday, Japan’s Hana Yoshida topped the women’s short program, putting her in strong position to qualify for the Final after she was third at Skate Canada.
Yoshida, third at last year’s Grand Prix Final, landed a triple Lutz-triple toe combination in her 67.87-point short program. The world’s top short program scores this season have been in the 70s.
Yoshida can become the third different Japanese woman to win in the first five Grand Prix events this season. Japanese women swept two of the last three Grand Prix podiums, but that is very unlikely to happen here.
That’s because Italian Lara Naki Gutmann and American Sarah Everhardt are in second and third, each seeking a first Grand Prix podium.
Gutmann, 22, is a three-time national champion for the 2026 Winter Olympic host nation. Everhardt, 18, was fourth in her senior U.S. Championships debut last January.
In pairs, reigning world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada posted their best short program of the season for the lead.
Their score — 75.89 — is the world’s second-best this season behind 2023 World champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan, who tallied 77.79 at Skate America.
Stellato-Dudek, a 41-year-old who spent 15 years in figure skating retirement, and Deschamps already won Skate Canada. A podium this week should put them in the Final, where they would face Miura and Kihara for the first time this season.
Grand Prix Finland continues Saturday with men’s and women’s free skates and rhythm dance, live on Peacock.
2024 Grand Prix Finland Figure Skating Results
Men’s Short Program
1. Yuma Kagiyama (JPN) — 103.97
2. Kasuki Tomono (JPN) -- 90.78
3. Kevin Aymoz (FRA) -- 85.13
4. Sota Yamamoto (JPN) -- 82.43
5. Lukas Britschgi (SUI) -- 80.44
6. Daniel Grassl (ITA) -- 77.91
7. Cha Jun-Hwan (KOR) -- 77.33
8. Aleksandr Seleveko (EST) -- 66.36
9. Vladimir Samoilov (POL) -- 65.46
10. Camden Pulkinen (USA) -- 64.34
11. Makar Suntsev (FIN) -- 59.58
12. Valtter Virtanen (FIN) -- 57.28
Women’s Short Program
1. Hana Yoshida (JPN) -- 67.87
2. Lara Naki Gutmann (ITA) -- 67.06
3. Sarah Everhardt (USA) -- 66.28
4. Rino Matsuike (JPN) -- 64.82
5. Yun Ah-Sun (KOR) -- 63.16
6. Mai Mihara (JPN) -- 59.56
7. Lorine Schild (FRA) -- 59.22
8. Lindsay Thorngren (USA) -- 57.37
9. Janna Jyrkinen (FIN) -- 55.30
10. Olivia Lisko (FIN) -- 54.68
11. Niina Petrokina (EST) -- 53.76
12. Nella Pelkonen (FIN) -- 52.14
Pairs’ Short Program
1. Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) -- 75.89
2. Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini (ITA) -- 67.43
3. Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) -- 61.29
4. Kelly Ann Laurin/Loucas Ethier (CAN) -- 60.45
5. Emily Chan/Spencer Howe (USA) -- 58.93
6. Milania Vaananen/Filippo Clerici (FIN) -- 54.33
7. Naomi Williams/Lachlan Lewer (USA) -- 52.30
8. Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi (JPN) -- 51.75
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Yuma Kagiyama and Ilia Malinin have not met in direct competition this season. They were in the same field at Lombardia Trophy in September, won by Malinin.
