Americans had a brilliant performance on Saturday at the world figure skating championships in Montreal with Ilia Malinin claiming his first title, while duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates successfully defended their ice dance crown.
Malinin, 19, obtained a record 227.79 in the free program for a total of 333.76, moving from third to first as he performed a historic six quadruple jumps in his final routine, being the first to do it with a quad Axel.
“I am very happy to be here, in the last few weeks I have had a lot of problems, mentally and physically, but seeing you all here has helped me to keep going and to deliver the programme,” said Malinin.
Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama took silver, 24.11 points behind Malinin, and France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, who jumped from 19th place after Thursday’s short programme, finished third.
Earlier on Saturday, American duo Chock and Bates, who are getting married this year, earned 222.20 points between Friday’s rhythm dance and Saturday’s free dance to prevail by 2.52 points over Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (219.68), last year’s bronze medallists.
“It was incredibly fun to perform today. We’re so happy to finish the season with a strong skate. We’re so happy to be in our adopted hometown of Montreal,” Chock said.
The Italian pair of Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, who were in second place after Friday’s free dance portion of the competition, settled for third with 216.52 points.
Chock and Bates were members of the U.S. Olympic figure skating team that learned in January they would receive a long-overdue gold medal after Russia’s Kamila Valieva was banned for committing an anti-doping rule violation that rattled the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
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