If there’s anything that’s been constant this season, it’s that the men’s field continues to be a rollercoaster ride. But with the Olympics coming in two months, there’s no better time than now for these skaters—six of the top skaters in the world—to bring it and get some momentum as they look toward a potential podium fight in Milan in February. As has been the case lately, there’s one clear favorite in Ilia Malinin, and the question is can anyone match his consistency?
2025 Grand Prix Final predictions
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GOLD Ilia Malinin USA - Undefeated since November 2023, Malinin comes in looking for his third consecutive title at the Final. It’s been a fairly straightforward season for him so far—the program consistency has been there, and he’s been pacing himself well across the programs. We have yet to see him pull out all his technical content this season, and he’s been teasing the quad axel-triple toe, which could go into his short program.
SILVER Yuma Kagiyama JPN - There are times when Yuma Kagiyama have shrugged off mistakes, and then there are times when you know he’s visibly upset—and that was at Finlandia Trophy. Even though he still won the title, the mistakes he had in the short and the free were frustrating. He’s absolutely looking to put out the kind of skating he knows he can deliver, but even with content that he’s comfortable with, there have been errors. I’d imagine he comes into Nagoya with a fire to get those clean programs out there, and this is the place for it.
BRONZE Shun Sato JPN - The consistency has been on for Shun Sato, and that’s a relief given that he started his season with an injury and he was just trying to figure out what to do for his technical content early on. But it seems like that’s all behind him now, and his skating (and his scores) have only escalated over the season. Within a matter of two months, he went from someone who was trying to get a spot on the Japanese team to a potential contender to the podium, and he’s got a chance to prove himself again this week. A medal would be very sweet for him to take into Japan Nationals.
4. Adam Siao Him Fa FRA - Though his season so far has been less than ideal, the fact is that he had been on a good upward trajectory coming out of his first competition at French Masters, where he was completely out of sorts. His free skate at Grand Prix de France was one of his strongest in recent memory, and he will want to channel that if he wants to get on the podium here. At his best, he’s podium material, but it’s just been tough for him to string together consistent performances.
5. Mikhail Shaidorov KAZ - You wonder if his free skate has just been too jam-packed with difficulty. It’s been a struggle getting a good free skate in for him this season, and that’s lead to some messy skating. He brings back his Dune short program from last season, perhaps in hopes of rekindling some of the magic of his breakout year. He was fifth here last season.
6. Daniel Grassl ITA - Grassl has now qualified for three of the last four Grand Prix Finals, and he’s really been most solid during the first half of the season, which has been the pattern during this entire Olympic cycle—with the exception of the one season when he was suspended for missing anti-doping tests. Of the six here, he’s the one with perhaps the lowest ceiling, and it will take some mistakes from others for him to be in contention here.