Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) lead in the Pairs in the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama (JPN) © ISU
Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) skated to the lead as the ISU World Figure Skating Championships kicked off in Saitama (JPN) with the Pairs Short Program on Wednesday. A total of 181 Skaters/Couples representing 39 ISU Members have been entered for the Championships: 34 Men and 35 Women, 23 Pairs and 33 Ice Dance couples.
Miura/Kihara (JPN) poised for gold after Pairs Short Program
World silver medalists Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara of Japan took a confident lead of six points in the Pairs Short Program over reigning ISU World Champions Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier (USA). Italy’s ISU European Champions Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii are currently ranked third.
Skating to “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, Miura/Kihara put out an excellent performance that featured a triple twist, side by side triple toe, and a level-four lift, spin, footwork and death spiral. The 2023 ISU Four Continents Champions posted a new personal best of 80.72 points, breaking the 80-points barrier for the first time.
While the couple was waiting for the scores in the ‘Kiss & Cry’ area, Miura suddenly jumped up and down in joy – she had seen the results on the screen before they were announced to the audience.
“The happiness just exploded inside me. I did not know that nobody else saw the score,” said Miura. “After Four Continents, we were able to have good practices everyday, so I was able to have confidence and I’m glad our hard work paid off,” she continued.
“Our goal for this season was to get 80 points in the short program, so we are glad to have achieved our goal at the very end of the season.”
Knierim/Frazier had to overcome a tough time, as their coach Todd Sand has been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack while in Calgary at the ISU World Junior Championships. The 2022 World Champions produced a triple twist, throw triple flip and three level-four elements in their routine to “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”, but Frazier fell on the triple toe. The US Champions earned 74.64 points.
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier (USA) in the Pairs short program in Saitama (JPN) © ISU
“It’s true, it’s been a more vulnerable time for us,” Knierim said. “We’ve been trying to keep our focus on our skating and our training and putting our hearts where we can control it – and that’s on the ice.
“Today I thought we did a really great job of performing the program from beginning to end, skating strong, and bringing the characters to life. I‘m really proud of us -– I think we’ve endured a lot recently and we put out the best today.”
Conti/Macii continued their rise this season, and delivered another personal best with their performance of their “Oblivion” Tango program, completing a triple twist, throw triple loop and a triple Salchow. However, the death spiral merited only a level one. The European Champions netted 73.24 points.
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (ITA) in the Pairs short program in the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama (JPN) © ISU
“For us, it’s simply important to improve our score step by step, because it shows us that we are continuing to improve,” Conti said. “We would rather not receive a huge score and then fall back. We rather want to improve our season’s best, to feel that we still have room for improvement.”
Macii added: “It’s our first World Championships and I would say that it was the best show of our life and we have the best score. There’s nothing to complain about. It was almost everything perfect.”
2023 ISU Four Continents bronze medalists Deanna Stellato-Dudek/ Maxime Deschamps (CAN) remained close to the podium in fourth place at 72.81 points. 2023 ISU Four Continents silver medalists Emily Chan/Akira Spencer Howe (USA) stand in fifth place with a personal best of 70.23 points. The new pairing of Lia Pereira/Trennt Michaud (CAN) came sixth (65.31 points).
A total of 23 Pairs competed in the Short Program with the top 20 advancing to the Free Skating.
Skaters/Couples need to have obtained a minimum total technical score in Short Program and Free Skating in order to compete at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.
Following the IOC recommendation and in order to protect the integrity of ice skating competitions and for the safety of all the participants of international ice skating competitions, the ISU Council based on Article 17.1.q)i) of the ISU Constitution, agreed that with immediate effect and until further notice, no Skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) shall be invited or allowed to participate in International ice skating competitions including ISU Championships and other ISU Events. The same applies to Officials listed in the respective ISU Communications and/or Regulations under Russia and Belarus (see ISU Communication 2469).
Schedule of the event
The schedule of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships is as follows:
Wednesday, March 22: Pairs & Women’s Short Programs
Thursday, March 23: Pairs Free Skating & Men’s Short Program
Friday, March 24: Rhythm Dance & Women’s Free Skating
Saturday, March 25: Free Dance & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, March 26: Exhibition Gala
For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official website. Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldFigure and #FigureSkating.
Where to watch the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2023:
The ISU World Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list on the Where to Watch webpage here.
Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.
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