Milan / Italy

#WorldFigure                                #Milano2018

 

 

 

Not only the sequins sparkled when 2018 Olympic silver medalists Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France took the ice for the Latin Short Dance. The two-time World Champions won the first segment of the Ice Dance competition at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Milan (ITA) Friday with a new record score. Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) came second followed by Canada’s two-time World medalists Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje.

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Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA)

Dancing to ‘Shape Of You’ and ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by Ed Sheeran, Papadakis/Cizeron produced difficult footwork and a straight line lift and picked up a level four for the side by side step sequence, the twizzles, pattern dance step sequence and the lift. The Rhumba Pattern merited a level three. With 83.73 points, the four-time European Champions broke the Short Dance record set by Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) at the Olympic Winter Games.

“We had a really good feeling on the ice today, it felt really special to be back in Milan after five years when we were here for Junior Worlds, and the crowd was amazing,” Cizeron shared. “We really needed to be supported today when the season has been so demanding so it felt really good to have that support. We had a great time today and it feels really good to end the season on a note like this,” he added.

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Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA)

Hubbell/Donohue’s performance to Samba and Rhumba was highlighted by well synchronized twizzles, intricate steps and a curve lift. The U.S. Champions earned a level four for all elements to achieve a new personal best of 80.42 points, breaking 80 points for the first time.

“Many teams throughout this event achieved a season’s best which was wonderful to see, especially after a demanding season and many of us coming off the Olympics not long ago, but Zachary and I definitely wanted to not just wait till Worlds but go home after the Olympics and keep improving,” Hubbell noted. “We put out an incredible performance and we are very proud to achieve a clean protocol with all level 4s. We really feel we gave our best performance today,” she continued.

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Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje.(CAN)

Weaver/Poje delivered a strong performance to Bolero and Mambo, collecting a level four for four elements and scoring a personal best with 78.31 points.

“We're so happy with our performance today. We seem to have bookended our season with this short program. It started out great, then a bit of a dip and now, what a way to finish the season with a Personal Best. We know we have great chemistry and we want to highlight that because it's what makes us special,” Weaver told the press.

The 2014 World Champions Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA) are less than point behind in fourth place on 77.46 points, which was a personal best score. “It was a great performance, we tried to give everything to the crowd, that's why we are here because we want to skate for people, for Italy, for our fans and we really love it and love to bring our performance to the new level,” Lanotte said. Two-time World medalists Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) came fifth (75.66 points) followed by Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN) on 74.51 points.

The ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018 continue with the Ladies Free Skating .