PRAGUE, March 28 : American Ilia Malinin reclaimed his place at the top of the sport as he skated to a third world title on Saturday and shrugged off the shock of his eighth-place finish at the Olympics.
Malinin, who arrived in Prague carrying the weight of a collapse that cost him Olympic gold and intent on redemption, scored 218.11 points for a free programme that included five quadruple jumps, and 329.40 points overall.
Olympic silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan climbed from sixth after the short programme to finish second with 306.67 after his elegant and flawless free skate to Puccini’s Turandot.
His compatriot Shun Sato, the bronze medallist last month in Milan, was third with 288.54.
Malinin’s free programme fell short of his massive world-record score of 238.24 set at the Grand Prix Final in December where he unleashed seven quad jumps, including the quad Axel, a jump only he has landed in competition.
On Saturday, he tripled the quad Axel, the jump that started the unravelling of his free programme at the Olympics, but his five quads were enough to remind the sport why he remains its most formidable force.
The final event of the competition, the free dance, is later on Saturday.