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≡ ISU WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡
It was a week to remember for U.S. skating at the International Skating Union’s World Figure Skating Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, beginning with a remembrance of the horrific crash of American Eagle flight 5342 on 29 January with an Army helicopter that killed 67, including more than two dozen skaters, coaches, family and officials.
The performances that followed on the ice brought the crowds at the TD Garden to their feet again and again, and especially for the American skaters, who performed stunningly in the first Worlds on U.S. soil since 2016:
● The first new champion was Alysia Liu, still just 19, but who returned from a retirement at age 16 to emerge with her second Worlds medal and first world title.
She was brilliant in the Short Program on Wednesday, scoring a lifetime best of 74.58 to stand first, but with four more skaters within 4 1/2 points. In the Free Skate on Friday evening, U.S. champion Amber Glenn rebounded from a fall in the Short Program – and ninth place – to score 138.00 and move from ninth into the lead, at 205.65.
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, the three-time defending World Champion, also had a disappointing Short Program and was in fifth place. Her 146.95 Free Skate vaulted her into the lead with four skaters remaining with 217.98 points, an imposing total.
Fellow American Isabeau Levito, the 2024 Worlds runner-up, was third in the Short Program, but needed to be sensational to pass Sakamoto and take the lead. She was close to her seasonal best, at 136.51, for a total of 209.84, sitting second.
Japan’s Mone Chiba, second in the Short Program, was great again in the Free Skate, but could not match Sakamoto, and scored 141.80 to move into second, moving Levito down to third with only Liu remaining.
The task was clear: Liu needed a big score of 143.41 to win … and she delivered. With the crowd getting louder with each completed element, Liu set lifetime bests for the Free Skate (148/39) and her total at 222.97, to win the Worlds gold, the first by an American woman since Kimmie Meissner in 2006.
It’s the second-highest score in American history (under the current table); only Bradie Tennell scored more, at 225.64 at the World Team Trophy final in 2019. Said Liu afterwards:
“I have never regretted anything in my life. Every decision I’ve made, I’m so glad I did. It really brought me to this moment.
“That was the best performance I’ve laid down all season, even my practice programs have not been that good. I really thought if I did clean skates I’d be hopefully Top 10, definitely not first. This moment is so unreal, that’s the only word I can use to describe it. I still have to process it to be honest.”
● Two-time defending World Champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. left no doubt about a third straight Worlds gold by dominating the Ice Dance competition.
They led the Rhythm Dance opener, scoring a seasonal best of 90.18 to lead 2024 silver winners Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (CAN: 86.44) and Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (83.86).
There was no let-up in the Free Dance, with Chock and Bates winning that, scoring 131.88 for a season-best total of 222.06, the no. 12 performance in history. For Chock, 32, and Bates, 36, it was another amazing chapter in World Championships medal history that goes back to 2015:
● Gold: 2023, 2024, 2025
● Silver: 2015
● Bronze: 2016, 2022
That’s six medals in 10 editions! Said Chock:
“It means the world to us, honestly. This has been such a magical week. We had two incredible skates, I could not be more proud of Evan, and I’m so grateful to our coaching team.
“It’s certainly not easy to do this, and to chase your dreams year after year, and we’re so grateful and appreciative to everyone who has helped us along this journey and made this possible for us. This is a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
Gilles and Poirier won the silver, with a second in the Free Dance (130.10) and a 216.54 total. Fear and Gibson won their first Worlds medal with a 207.11 total, ahead of Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (ITA: 206.46).
Americans Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko moved up from sixth in the Rhythm Dance to fifth overall (204.88) and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons finished ninth (192.47).
● Last to skate on Saturday was defending men’s champion Ilia Malinin of the U.S, already the leader following the Short Program at 110.41 over three-time silver winner Yuma Kagiyama (JPN: 107.09), with no one else close.
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, the 2025 Four Continents winner, and no. 3 after the Short Program, got a lifetime best of 192.70 to total 287.47 and take the lead with Kagiyama and Malinin remaining.
Kagiyama was not at his best, suffered a fall and scored only 171.10 for a 278.19 total, standing behind Shaidorov, with the defending champion last on the ice.
Malinin only had to score 177.07 to repeat as World Champion, and he went way past it, winning the Free Skate at 208.15 – by almost 15 1/2 points – and scored 318.56, the no. 7 score in history and his second-best ever! His Free Skate score is no. 8 ever. He had the idea to try seven quad jumps in his program, and he started with a quad Flip, his famous quad Axel, quad Lutz and quad Loop, then added a quad Toe Loop and quad Salchow for a total of six.
Shaidorov was second at 278.19, the Kagiyama taking bronze at 278.19. Two-time Worlds fifth-placer Jason Brown, 30, – in his seventh Worlds – got a seasonal best of 180.68 in the Free Skate to take the lead at 265.40 after 13 of the 24 skaters, but teammate Andrew Torgashev fared poorly, scoring only 125.52 with two falls, and fading from eighth after the Short Program to 22nd overall.
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Japan’s 2023 World Champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the second Worlds gold in Pairs, leading after the Short Program at 76.57 and finishing second in the Free Skate at 143.22 for a total of 219.79.
Germans Minerva Hasse and Nikita Volodin won the Free Skate (145.49) to move up from third after the Free Skate to take silver at 219.08, moving up from bronze last year. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (210.47) were third in the Free Skate and won the bronze at 210.47, duplicating their 2023 finish.
The U.S. finished 6-7 with Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitofanov (199.29) and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea (195.38), their best Worlds placements ever.
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The U.S. scored three golds in the four events for the first time in its history at the Worlds; it had not been done since Russia won three in 2005.
Overall, Japan won four medals (1-1-2) and the U.S. had three (3-0-0); four other countries finished with one each.
Looking ahead to the 2026 Olympic Games, the U.S. secured a maximum two quota places and a chance for a third in all four events (!) at a later qualifier.
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