ANGERS - US figure skater Ilia Malinin and Japan's Kaori Sakamoto headline the Olympic season opener at the elite ISU Grand Prix de France in Angers starting Friday, looking to lay the groundwork for gold at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
The first of the six-stop ISU Grand Prix series heads for western France from October 17-19 as competitors build towards the Olympics which get under way on February 6 in northern Italy.
Skaters compete in two of the six-leg series with the top-ranked qualifying for the Grand Prix Final, which this season is set for Nagoya, Japan, from December 4-7.
Quadruple-jumping maestro Malinin is the favourite to follow retired fellow American Nathan Chen onto the top of the Olympic men's podium in what will be the 20-year-old's first Winter Games.
Malinin claimed a second world title in Boston earlier this year with an impressive 31-point margin on Kazakh Mikhail Shaidorov.
Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, the 2022 Olympic silver medallist, and South Korea's Cha Jun-hwan are also hoping for a Games medal along with France's Adam Siao Him Fa.
In France, Malinin is set to go toe to toe with home hope Siao Him Fa, a three-time winner in Angers and former world medallist. Malinin has been undefeated in competition since coming second to Siao Him Fa in Angers in 2023.
Malinin will then head to Skate Canada on week three of the series from October 31 to November 2. Shaidorov will compete in the Cup of China from October 24-26 and Skate America from November 14-16.
Sakamoto, a former three-time world champion, won bronze at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics behind two Russian skaters.
But the 25-year-old comes into the Olympic season having been thwarted in her bid for a fourth world gold by American Alysa Liu in Boston last March.
Liu, 20, begins her campaign at the Grand Prix of China along with fellow American Amber Glenn who won two Grand Prix golds and the Grand Prix final last year.
In Angers, Sakamoto will face old rivals -- American Isabeau Levito and South Korea's Kim Chae-yeon -- the trio going 1-2-3 at the 2024 world championships.