BOSTON (Reuters) – Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates are on track for a third consecutive global ice dance title after winning Friday’s rhythm dance at the World Figure Skating Championships by nearly four points.
The Olympic champions scored 90.18 points and brought the TD Garden crowd to its feet with their electric “dancing through the decades” program to a wide mix of music that included everything from Jive Bunny to the Bee Gees and Miles Davis.
Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were second, with Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson third.
“This was so fun, honestly,” said Chock. “We really love dance and this program really showcases so many styles of dance, and it comes with a lot of joy.”
Skating right before the Americans, Gilles and Poirier, world silver and bronze medallists, set a sizzling pace with their entertaining “Barbie and Ken at the beach” program to music by the Beach Boys.
But Chock and Bates were up to the challenge.
Gilles and Poirier were second with 86.44, losing points on the make-or-break twizzles — side-by-side spins across the ice which require perfect synchronicity for top marks.
“I think it’s a friendly competition,” Gilles said on their rivalry with the Americans. “We have so much respect for them. They bring so much to the table, just like we do. It pushes us to skate better.”
Fear and Gibson scored 83.86 points, setting them up for the first medal for a British team at a worlds or Olympics since Jayne Torvill and Christoper Dean returned from a decade-long layoff to win bronze at the 1994 Lillehammer Games.
Gilles and Poirier edged Chock and Bates to capture the Four Continents title last month by half a point, but the Americans’ gaping lead heading into Saturday’s free dance makes them the team to beat.
The six-times U.S. champions and married couple are aiming to become the first team to win three consecutive world titles since Russians Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov won four straight between 1994 and 1997.
This season’s rhythm dance theme, as designated by the International Skating Union, was “social dances and styles of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s,” and so fans at the TD Garden were treated to everything from Abba to Earth, Wind and Fire.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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