Reigning world champion, Ilia Malinin, dominated the competition at the ISU Grand Prix de France in Angers, France, marking his first major event of the Olympic season with a more than 40-point win. His new free skate, titled “A Voice,” provided a backdrop for the 20-year-old to prove a new maturity and confidence in his skating.

He attempted five quadruple jumps, leaving his signature quadruple Axel — an element he is alone in achieving in competition — for later in the season. The audience in Angers fully was behind the American skater, on their feet before his program ended, and Malinin left no room for doubt that he is the firm favorite for gold at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games in February. 

Skating before a home crowd, Adam Siao Him Fa laid it all out on the ice, nearly performing a perfect program, redeeming errors made during the short program. His free skate, titled “The Creation of Adam,” had four attempted quadruple jumps and earned the highest program component scores of the event. His next Grand Prix event will be in Helsinki, Finland at the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Finlandia Trophy, Nov. 21-23.

Georgia’s Nika Edadze put out a strong free skate, with a few costly mistakes that landed him in third place overall. The placement means a spot at the Grand Prix Final, while dependent on his performance at his next assignment later in the season, isn’t off the table.

In 3rd place after the short program, Kao Miura from Japan struggled through the free skate, finishing the event in a disappointing 10th place. Teammate Tatsuya Tsuboi similarly had a difficult free skate in Angers, resulting in a 7th-place finish – making a spot in the Grand Prix Final unlikely for both Japanese men’s skaters.

However, 2025 European champion Lukas Britschgi from Switzerland completed a high-energy program to surge from 7th place in the short program to 3rd in the free skate, landing him in 4th place overall. 

American Andrew Torgashev performed a solid free skate, showing what he’s capable of early in the Olympic season. He finished the free skate in 5th place, leaving the Grand Prix de France in 6th overall.

Max Naumov performed an emotional free skate, moving up to 8th place but still taking 9th in the event. The U.S. will have three places at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, and both Americans will be vying for those spots as the season continues. 

The ice dance event also concluded at the ISU Grand Prix de France, with home favorites Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron taking first place over Great Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson by less than one point. After Cizeron put his knee down in the rhythm dance, resulting in a large loss of points, the new team showed they are strong medal contenders ahead of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, with an emotional free dance to music from the soundtrack of 'The Whale.'

Skating to a selection of Scottish music including 'Auld Lang Syne,' wearing tartan-styled costumes, Fear and Lewis skated a flawless free dance leaving nothing to chance but still dropping to second place. They will head to Osaka, Japan for the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix NHK Trophy 2025 for their second assignment, Nov. 7-9.

In third place, Lithuania's Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius, skated a clean routine, with techno themes to music by 'Faithless.' While not the fastest team across the ice, their excellent precision, athletic and complex lifts, and commitment to performance kept them on the podium as the competition grew more intense among the top teams.

American teams Eva Pate and Logan Bye, and Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville both continued with a second round of strong performances in Angers, France, with Pate and Bye losing one point for a deduction, dropping them to 8th position behind Bratti and Somerville in the free dance. Overall, Pate and Bye remained in 7th position, while Bratti and Somerville moved up from 9th to finish the event in 8th place.

The ISU Grand Prix series continues at the Grand Prix Cup of China in Chongqing, China, Oct. 24-26. Watch live on Peacock.