Yuma Kagiyama of Japan upstaged world champion Ilia Malinin of the United States to lead the men's short program at the figure skating Grand Prix Final. Malinin stepped out of his opening quadruple axel and finished third. The event in Nagoya gathers the world's top skaters ahead of the Winter Olympics.
On December 4, 2025, Yuma Kagiyama scored a season-best 108.77 points to lead the men's short program at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Nagoya. Skating to Stevie Wonder's "I Wish," he landed a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, a quadruple salchow, and a triple axel in an up-tempo routine.
"I went in with the mindset that I am the best and it really helped," Kagiyama said. "It felt like the Beijing Olympics (where he won the silver medal)."
World champion Ilia Malinin, who hasn't lost a competition in more than two years and is the gold medal favorite for the Milan Cortina Olympics, stepped out of his opening quadruple axel-triple toe loop and lost points on a quadruple lutz-triple toe loop, finishing third with 94.05 points.
"I just wanted to try this combo out," Malinin said. "It was the first time in a competition and it didn't work out so I had to just continue with the program." He added, "I don't think it's really going to affect my confidence. This is just a place for me to try new things. I didn't really come here to win a Grand Prix Final again; I'm mainly here to try new things and see if maybe I'll have a different decision in what I want to do for the Olympics."
Shun Sato of Japan took second with 98.06 points, landing two quad jumps and a triple axel. The Grand Prix Final features the top six skaters in men, women, pairs, and ice dance, serving as a key gathering before the Winter Olympics.
In the ice dance rhythm dance, Olympic favorites Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States led with 88.74 points, followed by Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France at 87.56, and Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada at 82.89. Chock and Bates, three-time reigning world champions, tied a record with their sixth ice dance title at Skate America in November and also won the Cup of China; they claimed the Grand Prix Final in 2023 and 2024.
In pairs short program, world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan scored 77.32 to lead by one-tenth of a point over Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy, with Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia third. Friday features the pairs free skate and women's short program, including world champion Alysa Liu and last year's GP Final winner Amber Glenn of the United States. The competition concludes Saturday with the men's and women's free skates.