Ilia Malinin, Jason Brown overcome doubts to get to figure skate worlds, finish 3-4 in short program

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Ilia Malinin, Jason Brown overcome doubts to get to figure skate worlds, finish 3-4 in short program

MONTREAL – Ilia Malinin may already be the greatest jumper of all time in figure skating, but judges still think he has a way to go in mastering the art of the sport before being considered one of the great skaters of all time.

Or even the greatest of this time.

In Thursday’s short program at the world championships, Malinin executed all his jumps with grace, power and apparent ease. But that wasn’t enough to compensate for the deficiencies on the program components (PCS) side that left him third to sparkling overall performances by two-time reigning world champion Shoma Uno of Japan and his countryman, Yuma Kagiyama.

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Women’s short program at figure skating worlds produces tears, thrills, spills

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Women’s short program at figure skating worlds produces tears, thrills, spills

MONTREAL - Isabeau Levito, the 2023 U.S. champion, was deservedly thrilled by finishing second with a near flawless performance and a personal best score. Her compatriot, new U.S. champion Amber Glenn, was shocked by an error that left her ninth.

Belgium’s Leona Hendrickx was teary despite a dominant skate. And two-time defending world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan burst into a bemusedly goofy smile after two mistakes left her fourth, a whisker behind second.

Such were the highs and lows of the world championships women’s short program Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.

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A dazzling skate by Deanna Stellato-Dudek. a lady of a certain age. . .(and her partner, Maxime Deschamps)

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A dazzling skate by Deanna Stellato-Dudek. a lady of a certain age. . .(and her partner, Maxime Deschamps)

MONTREAL – Pairs’ skater Deanna Stellato-Dudek is the grande dame of competitive figure skating, trying to become, at age 40, the oldest skater to win a world title in any discipline in decades.

“You know,” she said, “there’s no points in figure skating for being older.”

She and her 32-year-old partner, Maxime Deschamps, got plenty of them Wednesday with the best short program performance of their three international competition seasons together.

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For jumper extraordinaire Ilia Malinin, surprise is a key element

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For jumper extraordinaire Ilia Malinin, surprise is a key element

MONTREAL – Skating’s international young man of jump mystery and mastery slipped into a seat in a hotel lobby Tuesday evening, a smile on his eternally boyish face and who-knows-what surprises in his 19-year-old mind for the world championships?

Will there be a quadruple Axel in his short program when the men’s competition begins Thursday? (He did that for the only time in winning December’s Grand Prix Final.)

Two quad Axels in the free skate? (He talked about that earlier in the season.)

A quad-quad combination? (He has been amusing himself by trying quad toe-quad Axel and other quad-quad combos with quad flip, quad Salchow or quad loop as the second jump.)

All six types of quads in the free skate, before rumored upcoming rules changes limit the number of quads?

We may not know until the music starts. Malinin may not know until his final warm-up.

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Chock and Bates talk past, present future. Will it include 2026 Olympics?

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Chock and Bates talk past, present future. Will it include 2026 Olympics?

Theirs is a career noteworthy for its longevity and its achievements.

Ice dancers Madison Chock, 31, and her soon-to-be husband, Evan Bates, 35, have filled their résumé with just about every medal possible during a skating partnership that began 13 seasons ago.

Chock and Bates are the defending champions going into this week’s World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, where another medal of any color would be their fifth, making them the most decorated U.S. ice dance team ever at the world meet.

They have won an Olympic team event medal, now a gold from the 2022 Winter Games as a result of the doping disqualification of Russia’s Kamila Valieva - although when they will receive it still remains anyone’s guess given the latest appeals in a case that already has dragged on for more than two years.

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