World title for Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford
BOSTON – Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., struck gold for the second straight year in pairs on Saturday at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.
It is first time Canada has repeat champions in pairs since Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul won four straight from 1957-1960.
Duhamel and Radford posted a personal best 231.99 with Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China second at 224.47 and Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany third at 216.17.
“We are so happy and so proud to come here and deliver the performances that we worked so hard for,” said Duhamel. “We believed in ourselves and we knew this result was possible.”
While on paper it appears the Canadians enjoyed a strong season with two gold and silver on the Grand Prix circuit and a national title, it wasn’t as smooth as the previous winter. They felt that made them underdogs in Boston.
“We weren’t considered as strong contenders as compared to last season,” said Radford. “It feels great because it is difficult not to doubt yourself when everybody else has that expectation of you. As long you can believe you can do it, you can make it happen.”
Lubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were seventh at 199.52 and Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., followed in eighth at 190.90. It was also personal bests for both.
“It was a bit of work but a lot of fun,” said Moscovitch. “We did a great job of working our way through the program. We kept our focus on the choreography and enjoyment of the program and that really pulled us through.”
Moore-Towers and Marinaro climbed form 10th after the short.
“With two personal best performances here it sets us up well for next season,” said Moore-Towers. ” I’m thrilled.”
Daleman shines in women’s final
Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia won the gold medal in the women’s free skate with 223.86 points. Ashley Wagner of the U.S. followed at 215.39 for silver and Anna Pogorilaya of Russia was third at 211.29.
Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., completed an impressive showing finishing ninth. She smashed her personal best earning 195.68 points.
“I was very nervous going in and I decided I was skating for myself and country,” she said. “I just stayed in the moment throughout and took one element at a time.”
Canadian champion Alaine Chartrand of Prescott, Ont., was 17th.
Full results: ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2016
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