U.S. champions Ilia Malinin and Amber Glenn opened the figure skating season with statement wins at Lombardia Trophy, a B-level competition before the top-level Grand Prix Series starts next month.
Malinin, who won his first world title last March at age 19, landed five clean quadruple jumps between two programs on Friday and Sunday.
For his short program, he tallied a personal best 107.25 points. He did a back flip late in his free skate, performing to “I’m Not a Vampire” by Falling in Reverse.
The back flip was an illegal jump — carrying a two-point deduction — through last season, but the International Skating Union removed “somersault type jumps” from the banned list over the offseason.
Malinin totaled 312.55 points and distanced his primary rival — Olympic and world silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan — by 21.01 points.
Glenn, 24, earned the first international title of her career, attempting a triple Axel in both programs for the first time, according to SkatingScores.com.
Glenn landed both clean, becoming the second U.S. woman after Alysa Liu to do so in both programs in one competition in the Code of Points era (since 2004).
Glenn totaled a personal best 212.89 points, the highest score for an American woman in international competition since Isabeau Levito in the 2022-23 season.
Last season, Glenn placed 10th at worlds with 186.53 points. Her score at Lombardia would have won silver over Levito at last season’s worlds, though comparing scores between competitions isn’t quite apples to apples.
Glenn beat a Lombardia field that included three-time reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan.
Sakamoto, who was undefeated last season, had jumping errors in both programs and placed third behind Glenn and Sarah Everhardt, who was fourth in her senior U.S. Championships debut last season.
Malinin is entered in Skate America, the Grand Prix Series opener, from Oct. 18-20. Glenn begins her Grand Prix season in France in early November.
