Ilia Malinin had just returned from the Grand Prix de France , the first major event on figure skating’s road to the Milan Olympics, and the 20-year-old American with the gravity-defying jumps sounded downright bored with his performance.

It happened to be one of the best ever under the current scoring system.

The two-time and reigning world champion — and the odds-on favorite to deliver the U.S. its second straight Olympic gold come February — leaped and pranced his way to a score of 321.00 t wo weekends ago in Angers, France . It was the second-best score in international competition for Malinin, and more than 40 points clear of second-place Adam Siao Him Fa.

“I’m pretty satisfied with my performance and how I skated,” Malinin told The Associated Press, ahead of Skate Canada this

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