MILAN, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Competing against gold medal favourite Ilia Malinin always motivates Yuma Kagiyama and pushes him to do better, the Japanese figure skater said after upstaging the American in the men's short programme in the team event at the Milano Cortina Olympics.
Kagiyama, silver medalist at the 2022 Games, obliterated Malinin by more than 10 points with a score of 108.67 points as the men took to the ice at these Games for the first time.
While Kagiyama could not stop jumping up in excitement after producing a flawless performance, American Malinin was left wondering what went wrong when his score of 98.00 points flashed up on the big screen.
"I always get a good motivation from Ilia because he is one of those skaters who create this figure skating momentum," Kagiyama said through a translator at the Milan Ice Skating Arena.
"And then also he is a great jumper and he can do quads. So I always think that I want to catch him ... it’s like a race against him."
Despite Kagiyama's heroics, the United States held a one point lead over Japan at the halfway point of the team event.
Kagiyama said he wasn't feeling the pressure of competing against the twice world champion.
"I wasn't nervous today, and then my team cheered me up during the performances so that gave me the power," he said, adding he was happy he did "a perfect performance".
"I did well today, so I'm satisfied, but for the individual competition, I have to make it even better."
Asked what he felt before stepping onto the ice, Kagiyama said "all I was thinking of was how to bring the spectators into my world."
(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
