Ice dance Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron won their fifth title at their home world championships in Montpellier.
The dream couple danced their tango with sleepwalking certainty in the sold-out Arena Sud de France and set a record with 229.82 points. “It was one of the best competitions of our career,” said Cizeron.
Silver and bronze went to the US duos Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donhue and Madison Chock/Evan Bates. A German dancing couple was not at the start.
Before that, Japan’s Shoma Uno won World Championship gold for the first time. The Olympic bronze medalist in Beijing showed four clean quadruple jumps and prevailed with 312.48 points ahead of his compatriot Yuma Kagiyama (297.60).
World Championship debutant Nikita Starostin finished 22nd after a few unclean jumps, but managed to get through without a fall.
“I’m not happy, I made too many mistakes. At least I could stand the two triple Axels, but they weren’t clean either. I wasn’t focused,” said the self-critical Starostin. “I learned that I have nothing to lose and that I have to give everything.”
