41. Dmitri Aliev RUS
2017 Junior Grand Prix Final free skate
He's been a rising star in the junior ranks for the past couple of season. And for me, Dmitri Aliev is the Russian man with the greatest artistic potential at the moment ... that plus a beautiful quad toe, which he nails at the beginning of this free skate.
At 17, he is showing incredible promise in his basic skating - there's a lightness and ease that he carries across the ice that the majority of senior skaters don't even have. And this program is really a great showcase of everything that is wonderful about his skating. Consistency, though, has been a problem for him during the past couple of seasons - it was great to see his fight at the end of the program when it could have all fallen apart.
Aliev has had some great success on the international scene with multiple Junior Grand Prix titles. But it may be this win at the Junior Grand Prix Final that was the sweetest one so far in his career.