2025 Worlds: Men's thoughts and comments

[gsk8]

Kudos to Shaidorov! He's been consistent and I'm looking forward to seeing improvement on his expression in the years to come

It wasn't Kagiyama's night, but it's such a pleasure to watch him skate, nevertheless!

I realize many people aren't a fan of Malinin, but he plays to his strengths, just as Jason Brown does. It's sad that some people seem to believe that all the judges are from the US I have noticed quite a bit of improvement in the intricacy of his choreography as well as expression. But like everyone else, there is always room to grow.

Just thrilled for Vasiljevs who put out one the best free skates of his career!!

I loved watching Siao Him Fa's inspiring free skate. He has really had a rough time this year, and it was so pleasing to see him do well.

Brown was just top-notch. He showed his best form and I applaud him for maintaining those excellent skating skills.

What are your thoughts? Who were your favorites?

USA's Ilia Malinin defends World title in Boston

2025 World Figure Skating Championships: Men USA’s Ilia Malinin easily defended his world title in the Men's event on Saturday night in Boston, Mass., at

www.goldenskate.com

 

[Mathman]

Overall, I was disappointed, especially after the excitement of Ladies and even Dance.

Ilia Malinin did what he came to do, sort of. No one else did much of anything, really. Yuma Kagiyama -- we know he is a good skater, but here in the LP he perfprmed terribly and finished tenth. Shun Sato took himself out of the running by making mistakes. Also Adam SHF. I did enjoy Junhuan Cha's skate.

Mikhail Shaiderov acquitted himself well, skating error free in the long program and with positive GOEs on every element.But I was not really moved by the performances.

Jason Brown (4th in the LP) skated beautifully, held the rapt attention of the audience, and pulled the USA's bacon out of the fire with respect to Olympic spots. He did everything he possibly could given his tech ceiling.

 

[ladyjane]

I had a whale of a time with the men's. Never have I been so pleased about the 'menning' thing. It's just so great to have highlights from different skaters in the SP and FS. Of course it's disappointing when you skate a good Short and a terrible Free (as Andrew did, I certainly feel for him), but I was so pleased that Yuma at least had a good Short to look back on. My absolute highlights were the FS skates from Jason, Junhwan, Deniss and - strangely - from Tomas Llorenc Guarino-Sabate. What a fun skate. The other three were just mesmerizing with wonderful Jason and his movements, musical Deniss, and Junhwans beautiful lutz-loop combo as well as his exquisite Ina Bauer. Kevin Amoz's Short was also a highlight, and I was so pleased for both French guys ending in the Top 5. Good to see Adam Hagara performing well, getting Italy to maintain 2 spots for the OG. Shout out to numbers one and two who both did well in both the SP and the FS. I can't mention everyone here (there were 39 men competing in the SP after all) but I loved the events. Oh, just one more: pleased to see Roman Sadovsky doing well. Maybe not in getting additional spots for his country, but definitely getting one for the OG. Well done!

 

[Arigato]

I loved all of it. Every landing and every fall. This sport is excellent at revealing the human psyche: Its power. Its weakness. And everything in between. This sport can make you laugh and it can make you cry. But most of all, it teaches you to never say die.

As my father always taught me, "If you give it your all and come up short, there is nothing to regret. But only you know if you gave it your all."

Thanks again to Boston for making this WC unforgettable!

 

[yelyoh]

Overall, I was disappointed, especially after the excitement of Ladies and even Dance.

Ilia Malinin did what he came to do, sort of. No one else did much of anything, really. Yuma Kagiyama -- we know he is a good skater, but here in the LP he perfprmed terribly and finished tenth. Shun Sato took himself out of the running by making mistakes. Also Adam SHF. I did enjoy Junhuan Cha's skate.

Mikhail Shaiderov acquitted himself well, skating error free in the long program and with positive GOEs on every element.But I was not really moved by the performances.

Jason Brown (4th in the LP) skated beautifully, held the rapt attention of the audience, and pulled the USA's bacon out of the fire with respect to Olympic spots. He did everything he possibly could given his tech ceiling.

Yeah I agree. Ilya doesn't have much in the way of choreo but he does move his arms and bend his back unlike Shun who does nothing!!! I think I saw a modified spread eagle w Ilya. But he is into wowing with the quads and raspberries and back flips and he does that so impressively. And I'm glad he's USA. And in the end FSing is a sport and one has to do sport-like things. Of course his PCS are inflated but what can you do? He hasn't been the first and won't be the last. I've been saying for years that we need a separate panel for PCS. Jason is Jason and does what he can do very very well. He saved our collective butt. Shaid has been a phenom this year. Kevin and Adam were on fire and fine. I too really enjoyed Jun and I think his PCS should have been higher. Andrew did as badly as his previous Worlds but then he had reasons. This time he was in the wrong group and in over his head. He would have fared better in the second group. It must have been very intimidating to skate after all the spectators and the roar of the crowd. Yuma was also rattled. Sad to see in both cases. I enjoyed Deniss and Sabate and more.

 

[moonvine]

I had a whale of a time with the men's. Never have I been so pleased about the 'menning' thing. It's just so great to have highlights from different skaters in the SP and FS. Of course it's disappointing when you skate a good Short and a terrible Free (as Andrew did, I certainly feel for him), but I was so pleased that Yuma at least had a good Short to look back on. My absolute highlights were the FS skates from Jason, Junhwan, Deniss and - strangely - from Tomas Llorenc Guarino-Sabate. What a fun skate. The other three were just mesmerizing with wonderful Jason and his movements, musical Deniss, and Junhwans beautiful lutz-loop combo as well as his exquisite Ina Bauer. Kevin Amoz's Short was also a highlight, and I was so pleased for both French guys ending in the Top 5. Good to see Adam Hagara performing well, getting Italy to maintain 2 spots for the OG. Shout out to numbers one and two who both did well in both the SP and the FS. I can't mention everyone here (there were 39 men competing in the SP after all) but I loved the events. Oh, just one more: pleased to see Roman Sadovsky doing well. Maybe not in getting additional spots for his country, but definitely getting one for the OG. Well done!

I love Tomas

 

[cailuj365]

We all know that Yuma is a better skater than what he did in the FS. I was pretty shocked at what happened, but I am still very glad that he got a medal. His SP was the best I've ever seen from him, and I think he deserved the bronze over Adam.

Shaidorov is wonderful, and I love this breakout season for him. Last year, his spins were atrocious, and I felt like he was being overpowered by his music. This year, he has made visible improvements and lets the music work for him. The jumps are gorgeous. The 3A-Eu-4S is genius. However, at the end of the day, he was still doing triple-doubles for his final combos whereas the next man...

Ilia is on another level. I mean, quads aside (and giving that magnificent 4A a 'q' just feels wrong!), the way he projects on the ice is rare, even among champions. He has some technical work to do before the Olympics, but I was very impressed with how he handled the pressure. His SP was magnificent, and even though the LP wasn't perfect, he still delivered for the home audience. He really has the aura of being the leader of his figure skating generation and being someone who enjoys that role, not shies away from it. Plus, he's definitely not done growing artistically. I hope for good programs for him next year and pray that he stays healthy.

Jason Brown and Junhwan Cha were also standouts. So glad we have them all in figure skating.

 

[noskates]

I think Ilia's choreography was dictated by the music. I just finished watching his exhibition and it was beautifully done. His presentation has increased measurably in the last year. I'm not sure why people hate on him! He's exciting, innovative, and he definitely has earned his medals.
Jason was his wonderful self. Given all the naysayers and the people who were irritated because he was chosen to go to Worlds, take that!!!! AGAIN he has helped the US with spots.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Shun Sato was underscored, for me he is the real Bronze medalist here. Kagiyama made too many mistakes.

The French guys did well, it's been a long time since France has secured 3 guys for the Olympics! I'm still annoyed that Kevin Aymoz didn't win a medal in 2023 and he continues to be the most interesting artistically, while also doing quads.

 

[CellarDweller]

Everyone really seemed to get into Tomas Llorenc Guarino-Sabate's western free skate, it was really fun to watch!

Of course, I was very happy to see Kevin's placement, I was hoping for 4th or even (pipedream) bronze, but as long as he stayed up on his skates and he was happy, then I was happy for him.

Deniss and Jason were also stand outs for me, they were amazing to watch.

 

[Mathman]

I'll repeat this thought from the competition thread. Do you think that Ilia will try for a quad/quad next season?

 

[4everchan]

I'll repeat this thought from the competition thread. Do you think that Ilia will try for a quad/quad next season?

To achieve what ? If he does that, it just means that he will have to put a triple later on

 

[Wafflecakes]

I am not super passionate about any of the men right now.

I think Ilia has improved a lot in his choreo this season, but I can't really stand his music choices (to be fair this applies to most of the men this season). I don't hate his outfits like some do. At the end of the day he deserved to win and no one seems to be really giving him any competition right now. He would need to have a disaster skate to lose the Olympics next year as even with a few errors he is lapping the field technically.

 

[4everchan]

Rewatching on the big screen...

I loved Jason Brown, Junwhan Cha and Adam Siao Him Fa the most. These are the 3 programs I would watch again.

 

[Mathman]

To achieve what?

I don't know. Maybe for the same reason that people climb mountains?

Maybe just so he can tsay to his rivals, "I got a quad-quad. What you got?"

 

[4everchan]

I don't know. Maybe for the same reason that people climb mountains?

Maybe just so he can tsay to his rivals, "I got a quad-quad. What you got?"

i think he's already made that statement.
a 4-4 combo is useless

let's entertain the idea

4a
4lz
4lz-4t
4loop
4s- 3a
4f
3a-eu 3f

there are probably other versions but that would be one if he does manage such a difficult combo of 4lz -4t.. and i doubt it..

a more plausible would be with the Euler or a 4t-4t

the 4t-4t would actually LOWER his BV.

The Euler version also doesn't really do anything much :

4t eu 4s
4a
4lz
4lz
4f-3a
4loop
3a-3t


if he wants to go crazy and increase his BV he could do two quad axels..... but that's risky.

Let's not forget something here, Ilia got two Qs in the LP so he didn't actually managed to land his 7 quads, (popped the lutz too)

He still has work to do. To me, his best technical performance was Montreal worlds. Apparently he's grown two inches since then.. and that may explain why he is not as agile as he was in Montreal.. or as some have mentioned, fatigue from shows.

 

[Arigato]

I'll repeat this thought from the competition thread. Do you think that Ilia will try for a quad/quad next season?

I think he should try to skate/skate. Better/Better. Forget the quad/quad until the other gets done/done.

 

[lariko]

Personally, for me, i almost gave up watching when first Adam, then Brown got those push over scores. But the ending was brilliant, because keeping down the scores for Vasiliejvs, Cha and Sato in favor of those two feds spots. yeah, the skaters had mistakes, but come on, we all know how it works with reviews, GoE and PCSs. And, sure, Brown landed two 3as and had a nice, clean skate, but, like, so did Hagara, but we ain't seeing Hagara in top 10, do we?

Anyway, all this--let's call it math--worked out to Shaidorov's silver, because they all expected he would fold and Kagiyama would sail ahead on PCS/GoE right into the lead, yup-yup!

But in hindsight, why? Kagiyama was always an unstable skater, since the juniors (falling 3 times in JWC when they were trying so hard to hand gold to him, and there was no Malinin to menace him there. He was a clear favorite) and without the clutch that Malinin has in spades. As a result, he didn't just loose to Malinin, but to Shaidorov coming out of the left field small fed, with a huge disadvantage compared to Kagiyama after the SP.

I don't know what Kagiyama's training environment is, but out of 3 dynastic skaters trained with participation of their fathers on this podium, he did the worst in terms of psychological stability over the years. Imo, the JFS imo should start investing more in Sato at this point because it's just silly that he is in the worlds for the first time.

People can fixated all they want on 2Lz for Malinin, but Malinin also immediately beefed up his other two combos after he'd already shows insane content and was entering second part of the program. People keep calling him a jumper to belittle him, but they don't give him enough credit for his intellectual quickness in leveraging his brilliant technical arsenal. They also do not credit the amount of work his teams and he puts into creating the aura and connection to the audience. Which, as Brown deminstrates is more important than anything for the scoreboard.

Those who berate Malinin for doing shows discount that the shows is how he trains that audience connection muscle (plus establishes his family in FS world which is long-term planning for success). His will to win and ability to deliver one time and when needed, on cue, is great. Also, he showed a lyrical skate in gala, showing his human side, emotions and versatility. It's time to stop treating him as that boy who had stollen 4A glory from divine, incomparable, ethereal Hanue, people.

Malinin is a 2x world champion and not by some fluke, but through hard work, incredible talent, and ability to use that talent.

The most humorous part of the men's event was Aymoz' performances vs scoring with those lopsided, tortured 4Ts that could make Aliev proud.

 

[cailuj365]

I'll repeat this thought from the competition thread. Do you think that Ilia will try for a quad/quad next season?

No, but I'm sure he's thinking about it for 2026-2027 for funsies. I'm sure we'll also see a 4A combo from him at some point.

I don't think Ilia needs to change his layout too much if he doesn't want to, but perhaps put the step sequence back in the middle of the program or a little break between some of the jumps so he has a bit of room to breathe.

 

[4everchan]

No, but I'm sure he's thinking about it for 2026-2027 for funsies. I'm sure we'll also see a 4A combo from him at some point.

I don't think Ilia needs to change his layout too much if he doesn't want to, but perhaps put the step sequence back in the middle of the program or a little break between some of the jumps so he has a bit of room to breathe.

On French CBC TV broadcast, they mentioned that Ilia is saving all his energy during the program to do the jumps. That's how they explained the very little detail in the program in the first 2/3 of the program... then they said he can turn it own when he is done with the jump and goes wild there.

It's a way of seeing it. It's a way of doing it.

I much prefer programs with integrated choreography throughout.

So, if what they said is true, I doubt Ilia would bring his dynamic step sequence in the middle of the program as he may be too tired to perform 3 more quads after that.