Flirting with perfection is something that Meryl Davis/Charlie White are used to doing. They have been on an absolute tear since taking fourth at the 2009 World Championships, winning 18 of 22 competitions. And they won their 19th competition today at the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, keeping their season undefeated and winning their fifth consecutive U.S. title.
Davis/White was close to getting perfect marks across the board for all of their elements and program components. The judges rewarded their passionate and superbly-skated free dance with a 118.42, just a fraction lower than the highest score they could have possibly achieved. Their win was expected, but the margin of victory was enormous among such a tremendous group of ice dance teams, as they demolished the field by over 21 points.
The silver went to Madison Chock/Evan Bates, who were pulled off a mild upset over defending silver medalists and former World bronze medalists Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani. Chock/Bates scored just slightly higher in both phases of the competition and won the silver over the Shibutanis by just over one point.
Last year's bronze medalists, Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue, skated a fiery free dance to finish in fourth.
DANCE (final standings)
1. Meryl Davis/Charlie White - 197.44
2. Madison Chock/Evan Bates - 175.91
3. Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani - 174.21
4. Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue - 167.86
5. Lynn Kriengkrairut/Logan Giulietti-Schmitt - 160.01
6. Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus - 142.32
7. Anastasia Olson/Keiffer Hubbell - 130.67
8. Alissandra Aronow/Collin Brubaker - 130.55
9. Isabella Cannuscio/Michael Bramante - 129.08
10. Ginna Hoptman/Pavel Filchenkov - 119.77
11. Danielle Gamelin/Alexander Gamelin - 113.34
12. Kristen Nardozzi/Nick Traxler - 113.18
13. Taylor Tran/Sam Kaplun - 106.09
14. Kseniya Ponomaryova/Oleg Altukhov - 78.03
15. Katie Donaldson/Brock Jacobs - 62.34
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