France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron took gold at the World Figure Skating Championships ice dance event in Shanghai yesterday, the high point of a remarkable breakthrough season for the duo.
The pair gave a rousing performance to score 112.34 points in the final free dance and finish with 184.28 overall, marking another milestone following their European Championships victory in January.
The win in Shanghai represents an incredible achievement for Papadakis, 19, and Cizeron, 20, who are the youngest world champions for 49 years.
Photo: EPA
They finished 13th in the World Championships last year — their first season in senior competition. The pair emerged as a force in ice dance at the Grand Prix Final in December, when they came third.
“We are still very young and we feel like we want to go so much further now, not for the medals, but for ourselves,” Cizeron said. “I think that is what we have always done. We want to improve. We want to get better at what we do and what we love to do.”
“I think that is what makes us strong,” he said. “We don’t really run after medals. We just want to have fun and take a lot of pleasure.”
Photo: EPA
They finished fourth in Shanghai on Wednesday at the opening short program, but captivated the audience at Shanghai’s Oriental Sports Center with their finale.
To the music of Mozart’s Concerto No. 23, Papadakis and Cizeron confidently swept through their program before bringing the crowd to their feet with a passionate choreographed spin.
Papadakis said the pair were “disappointed” with their performance on Wednesday, adding “it gave us a lot of strength — we wanted to fight.”
“It is a big surprise to be here right now,” she said following the win. “Our goal at the beginning of the season was to be in the top 10.”
It was an emphatic display from the pair, who finished almost six points ahead of US champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who took second place with a score of 106.87 and 181.34 overall.
Pretournament favorites Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada — who won at both the Grand Prix Final and Four Continents championships in Seoul last month — finished third with 106.74 points, 179.42 overall.
“We gave everything that we could and that is our ultimate goal and what we trained for,” Weaver said.
“Unfortunately the marks did not come out in our favor, but we are not going to mark this season off as a loss. We had an incredible year,” she added.
“We have to be very happy with ourselves and are going to use this — as always — as a learning experience,” Weaver said.
Anna Capelliini and Luca Lanotte of Italy, and Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the US were fourth and fifth respectively in both the free dance and the final standings.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely