A Russian pairs team has not won gold at the World Championships since 2005, but today all that changes. The Russians are back on top in pairs skating, a sport they once dominated.
At the 2013 World Championships, pairs team Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov skated an amazing performance filled with incredible lifts, great throw jumps and strong side-by-side jumps. The only trouble was when Trankov tripped and fell after a throw triple salchow. Other than that, it was a great program where they earned a grand total of 225.71, almost 20 points above the second place finishers. They are definitely revving it up for the Sochi Olympics next year in their homeland.
The 2nd place finishers were Germany’s four-time World champions, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, who delivered a throw triple axel right at the end of the program but two-footed the landing. So close! It would have been great to see them complete that jump, flawlessly as Savchenko also doubled their side-by-side triple salchow and Szolkowy fell on hers; they really could have used those extra points. Hopefully, they will have it perfected and in their arsenal for the upcoming Olympic games.
In 3rd place was Canada's own, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, who enjoyed every moment of performing in front of their hometown audience. They received not only a standing ovation, but a seasons best score, giving them a total of 204.56, only 1 point short of the silver medal.
Pang and Tong skated into 5th place after a very elegant performance, with only a few minor flaws. They are such beautiful skaters, but after competing at world’s fourteen times, this team is struggling with some injuries as the harsh nature of the sport has taken its toll. It seems that this team may be retiring after next season.
The American’s held on and Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim came in 9th place and
Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir landed in 13th place. Both of these teams can be proud of themselves for earning the Unites States two spots on the pairs figure skating Olympic team. Though their programs lacked the difficulty that the other teams displayed, both of these teams skated well and gained more experience for the future.
All in all it was an exciting pairs' competition, and a great way to close out the season and begin preparing for the Olympic Games.
Comments