Russians excluded in response to the invasion of Ukraine and Chinese Olympic champions absent, two American couples settled in the first positions at the World Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday in Montpellier.
Along with the women’s category, that of couples is the most impacted by the exclusion of Russians (and Belarusians) decided by the International Skating Federation (ISU), in line with the recommendation made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the end of February. Both at the recent 2022 Olympics and at the 2021 Worlds, they occupied two of the three steps of the podium.
World’s Championships
A personal best at the right time: Sakamoto’s superb short program
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7 HOURS AGO
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Without them or Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, freshly crowned Olympic champions, Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier are in the lead after the short program, with 76.88 points, ahead of another American duo, Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy Leduc (75.85 ), and the Japanese Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (71.58). Vanessa James, who is skating this season for Canada alongside Eric Radford after being crowned European champion in 2019 under the colors of France, with Morgan Ciprès, ranked fifth (66.54). The free program will take place on Thursday evening.
World’s Championships
Sakamoto advantage after the short program
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11 HOURS AGO
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World’s Championships
Léa Serna, a first at the Worlds: her short program on video
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17 HOURS AGO
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