2024 Finlandia Trophy | Men
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan claimed the Men’s title at 2024 Finlandia Trophy on Saturday afternoon in Helsinki. Kevin Aymoz of France took silver, while Italy’s Daniel Grassl rose from sixth place to capture the bronze.
Yuma Kagiyama
Kagiyama displayed excellent skating skills throughout his captivating short program to “The Sound of Silence.” He landed a quad Salchow, quad toe-triple toe and triple Axel, all of which earned many positive grades of execution (GOE). All spins and footwork were graded a level four, and the 2022 Olympic silver medalist scored 103.97 points for first place.
“I was a little bit concerned regarding my tiredness doing back-to-back competitions,” said the 2024 NHK Trophy champion. “I couldn’t really do much better than at NHK Trophy, but it was so-so. I also made sure my spins and such were good and I wasn’t nervous about it.”
“Salchow and Axel, they all went well, but just before the toe loop, I had a weird kind of stumble,” he pointed out. “But compared to NHK Trophy, I was much calmer. So, I think that was really good.”
Kagiyama shared that he wanted to become more “consistent,” pointing out USA’s Ilia Malinin performances.
“I want to go over 300 points throughout the season, but I think first it’s important to go over 100 in the short program,” he said.
The 2024 Four Continents champion finished fifth (159.12) in the free skate after struggling with several of his jumping passes. He doubled and stepped out of the opening quad flip before putting a foot down on a quad Salchow. He also stepped out of the first triple Axel and put a foot down on the second, however, the quad toe-triple toe and solo quad toe were clean. He picked up a level four on all spins and the footwork, and with a total score of 263.09, was able to hang on to first place overall.
“I won this competition, but I want to give big shout outs to the two guys next to me (Aymoz and Grassl),” said the 21-year-old in the press conference. “It didn’t go well for me, but I will work hard and improve to do better next time.”
Kagiyama, who has qualified for the Grand Prix Final next month, said his goals for this season was to win every competition he enters.
“I really don’t want today’s mistakes to ever happen again,” he said. “After coming home, I will rest now, because I had two competitions in a row. But during this rest, I want to practice as much as possible and analyze these two competitions to get ready for the Final.”
Kevin Aymoz
The 2024 Skate America silver medalist gave an upbeat short program to “Everybody” by Martin Solveig, displaying intricate and difficult transitions throughout. He landed a quad toe-triple toe and triple Axel but took a fall on a triple Lutz. Two spins and the footwork were graded a level four, and he placed third in this segment with 85.13 points.
“This was fun!” said Aymoz. “A silly mistake, but that’s okay, it can happen. It didn’t take anything away from the show.”
The 27-year-old shared that he was nervous as his boyfriend was in the audience for the first time, watching him skate.
Ultimately, he is focused on the 2026 Olympics in Milan next season.
“I feel the next generation pushing,” said Aymoz. “But I really live day by day and we will see what happens and for how long I will keep skating.”
The skater shared that he took a week off after Skate America and went to Disneyland.
“I learned from last season to take more breaks,” he summed up.
The 2019–20 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist showed superb choreography in his passionate free skate to “Van Gogh,” “Hold on Tight” and “Destiny.” He fell on his opening quad toe and then turned out the front end of a quad toe-double toe but managed six triple jumps. Only a triple flip received an edge call, and the spins and footwork were all graded a level four with high grades of execution (GOE). He placed second in the free skate and overall (174.02/259.15).
“This was maybe one of the most stressful competitions of my career,” said the five-time French National champion. “After I did well at Skate America, I wanted to show everyone that I am strong. It maybe sounds strange, but after I fell on the first toe, I kind of felt happy and free. I knew I was going to make one mistake somehow.”
“My boyfriend was so sweet and supportive,” he added. “I saw him during the performance, and he waved. He is always so supportive and part of my team of course.”
Aymoz, who has qualified for Grand Prix Final, teased that he will be preparing a “little” surprise at the event.
“Something maybe a bit silly, but you will see,” he said. “It will be so special; all my family and friends will be there.”
Daniel Grassl
Italy’s Daniel Grassl landed a quad loop and triple Axel the short program but fell on his triple Lutz combo to finish sixth (77.91).
“It is a mistake I never do,” said the 2024 NHK Trophy silver medalist. “I was so happy I landed the quad loop. It’s maybe a sign to go for two quads in the short. I was a bit tired after NHK, but I am very happy to be here.”
The 2022 European silver medalist won the men’s free skate with 180.64. The only error he made was landing a quad loop on the quarter. All other jumps were clean, including his opening quad Lutz, quad Salchow and six triple jumps. He displayed level-four spins throughout his “Billy Elliot” routine while the footwork was graded a level three. With a total score of 258.55, he rose three spots to grab the third place on the podium.
“I am very happy about today,” said the 22-year-old. “This was my main goal. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out here because I am not used to be doing two competitions back-to-back.”
Grassl added that the quad Salchow is more secure in competition than in practice.
“In practice it’s 50% but in competition 100 %,” he said. “I am not complaining. I had an injury in the summer which made it difficult for me to land the Lutz and flip. The Lutz is better, but I also plan to introduce the flip again.”
Grassl now has 24 points going into the Grand Prix Final. He will have to wait until after other skaters compete at Cup of China next week to see if he qualifies.
“I will go into nationals rather relaxed and focus on myself because I have already two good competitions now,” he summed up.
Sota Yamamoto
Japan’s Sota Yamamoto fell on a triple Axel and stepped out of a quad Salchow in his dramatic short program. However, the opening jump, a quad toe-triple toe, was clean. The 2022–23 Grand Prix Final silver medalist also received a level four on all spins and footwork, placing fourth in this segment with 82.43 points.
“I was very nervous today,” admitted the 24-year-old. “I was able to do two quads at the beginning, but then had a big mistake on the Axel. Overall, I feel okay. Tomorrow it is important to me to improve my free skate from Skate Canada.”
The Japanese bronze medalist was thrilled with seeing so many fans in the audience from his home country.
“I am getting so much power from my fans!” he said. “I see all the Sota-banners. I hope so much that tomorrow I can skate so that all the people who came to watch me skate will be happy.”
Yamamoto placed third (167.48 points) in the free skate with his uplifting routine to “Melting” and “Sogno di Volare.” However, it wasn’t without mistakes. He put a hand down on a quad Salchow and fell on an underrotated triple Axel. He also two-footed the front end of a triple flip-double Axel sequence. Nonetheless, the skater produced a quad toe-triple toe, quad toe and triple Axel. All four spins were graded a level four, and he finished fourth overall 249.91.
“It is very important now for me to prepare for nationals and do well there,” he said. “Of course, my goal is to qualify for worlds, but I will put all my focus on nationals now.”
Lukas Britschgi
Switzerland’s Lukas Britschgi placed fifth (80.44) in the short program with his routine to “Iron Sky.” The 2023 European bronze medalist put a hand down and turned out the landing on the front end of his quad toe-double toe and later stepped out of a triple Lutz. However, the triple Axel was solid, and he was rewarded with a level four and high GOEs for all spins and footwork.
“The mistake on the Lutz was silly,” said the 26-year-old. “I lost my concentration.”
Britschgi said he felt much better compared to his outing at Grand Prix de France, where he finished ninth.
“Step by step. I finally could train with confidence again,” he said. “I had the best practices last week since March, so that’s really an improvement. The most competitions this season for me are obviously Europeans and Worlds and I hope to keep building until then.”
The four-time Challenger Series medalist put out a near-solid free skate to “Lux,” “Deeply” and “Aero.” He nailed his opening quad toe-triple toe and five triple jumps. The only mistakes came when he doubled a toe and put a foot down on triple Lutz-double toe. All spins were graded a level four, and he placed fourth in the free skate with a new season’s best and fifth overall (166.26/246.70)
“It’s a relief,” said the 26-year-old. “This is a competition and a result I can build on. I am quite pleased.”
He is now scheduled to compete at a Challenger Series event in Croatia.
“I will still have to finally decide if I do it or not,” said Britschgi. “After that is nationals. The Europeans are going to be tough this season. We have great athletes coming back like Daniel (Grassl) and Kevin (Aymoz), which is good for the sport. I think it will be an exciting competition there and I want to show my best performance there.”
Kazuki Tomono
Japan’s Kazuki Tomono landed a quad toe-double toe, quad Salchow and triple Axel in his unique short program to afro rhythmic by Tshegue. The 2022 Four Continents silver medalist, who is recovering from a hip injury, also earned a level four on all spins and footwork and scored a season’s best of 90.78 for second place.
“I was very nervous, and my warm-up didn’t go well, so I felt very shaky,” said the 26-year-old. “This is why I only added the double toe on my combination. I was happy with my score of 90 points.”
The skater added that he is training well and that he is about at 80-90% in terms of his physical condition.
Tomono delivered a soulful and jazzy routine to music by Jon Batiste. He took a fall on a triple Axel and doubled a Salchow. He also popped a triple Axel in the second half, but the rest of the program was clean. The quad toe-double toe and quad toe were solid, and the skater also earned a level four on his footwork and flying camel spin. He scored 147.63 for seventh place in the free skate and slipped from second to sixth overall (238.41).
“I started my performance strongly, but after that it wasn’t too good,” he noted. “This is all a matter of practice. I really need to practice more. Because of my injury I was held back, but now I will practice hard preparing for nationals.”
Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko of Estonia placed seventh overall (214.15), followed by Vladimir Samoilov of Poland (205.47) and USA’s Camden Pulkinen (195.18).
South Korea’s Junhwan Cha, who was seventh after the short program, withdrew from the event prior to the morning practice today, citing injury.
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