Ice Theatre of New York to honor trailblazing teams Belbin-Agosto & Davis-White Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto at Skate America in 2005, when they won the event for the third of five times. (U.S. Figure Skating photo) Not long after Ben Agosto switched from singles skating to ice dance at age 10, he faced up to the reality that winning medals on a global stage might be impossible for a U.S. ice dancer. Why wouldn’t he think that way, given the evidence?  After all, one of his first coaches, Susie Wynne, had retired from competition after finishing fourth at the 1990 World Champion ..read more

Ilia Malinin after winning the men’s singles gold at the 2024 World Championships. There is an old saying in sports that goes, “Records are made to be broken.” That may not apply to the world record men’s free skate score Ilia Malinin of the U.S. posted in winning the 2024 World Championships – as well as not apply to several women’s world records – if the International Skating Union passes proposals limiting jumps at its biennial Congress this June in Las Vegas. Should that happen, everyone should have their asterisks ready, as the ISU once again will have to create yet another chronological ..read more

Ilia Malinin celebrates hisd title-winning and record-breaking free skate. (NBC Sports) MONTREAL — Let the skating apotheosis of Ilia Malinin begin. And why not? In four minutes Saturday night, the 19-year-old Virginian took his sport to athletic heights it had never seen before and took himself from third after the short program to the top of the awards podium at the world championships. His free skate got the highest score in history. He landed an unprecedented six clean quadruple jumps, including his trademark quad Axel and two quads that opened combinations well into the second half of hi ..read more

Madison Chock and Evan Bates take a victory lap for the bell centre crowd. (NBC photo) MONTREAL — When Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto finished second at the 2005 World Championships in Moscow, it was the first time in 20 years a U.S. ice dance team had won a world medal. Who could have guessed that would be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between U.S. ice dancers and the awards podium at global figure skating championships? Madison Chock and Evan Bates added a new line to that story Saturday, becoming the first U.S. dance couple to win consecutive world titles and giving their country m ..read more

Isabeau Levito’s stunned disbelief after her silver medal-winning free skate at the World Championships. (NBC photo) MONTREAL — Isabeau Levito’s first world championships medal could not have come at a better time for herself and for U.S. figure skating. When she took the ice Friday night, Levito needed to win a medal to give the U.S. women a third spot at the 2025 World Championships in Boston. And, after getting second in Wednesday’s short program, a medal would be the perfect way to rebuild Levito’s recently shaken confidence. “I had two goals for this world championships, getting on the p ..read more

Madison Chock and Evsn Bates winning the ryhthm dance at the World Championships MONTREAL – There is a moment late in their rhythm dance when a moving Madison Chock leaps into Evan Bates’ arms, and he immediately spins her up into a rotational lift at his shoulder level. It happens so smoothly and in less time than it will take you to read this paragraph, so you go back and watch over and over again to see how they can look so effortless and secure in a potentially dicey few seconds. “Evan is very good with his coordination,” Chock said. “He’s good at catching things, throwing things. I’m in ..read more

Maxime Deschamps , pairs partner Deanna Stellato-Dudek and their coaching team exult in the free skate scores that brought them gold. MONTREAL – Deanna Stellato-Dudek is now one for the ages. And for the aged — at least by the actuarial tables for figure skating careers. And maybe even for a film script. After all, she has already written two acts, one as a U.S. singles skater from suburban Chicago, the other who returned to the sport after a 16-year absence as a pairs’ skater now representing Canada. “It’s a dream come true,” Stellato-Dudek said in English after opening by speaking French to ..read more

Ilia Malinin performing his short program earlier in the season. MONTREAL – Ilia Malinin may already be the greatest jumper of all time in figure skating, but judges still think he has a way to go in mastering the art of the sport before being considered one of the great skaters of all time. Or even the greatest of this time. In Thursday’s short program at the world championships, Malinin executed all his jumps with grace, power and apparent ease. But that wasn’t enough to compensate for the deficiencies on the program components (PCS) side that left him third to sparkling overall performance ..read more

Isabeau Levito unleashes her joy after a personal best short program MONTREAL - Isabeau Levito, the 2023 U.S. champion, was deservedly thrilled by finishing second with a near flawless performance and a personal best score. Her compatriot, new U.S. champion Amber Glenn, was shocked by an error that left her ninth. Belgium’s Leona Hendrickx was teary despite a dominant skate. And two-time defending world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan burst into a bemusedly goofy smile after two mistakes left her fourth, a whisker behind second. Such were the highs and lows of the world championships women’s ..read more

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps erupt with joy after seeing their scores in the short program at the World Championships. (NBC photo) MONTREAL – Pairs’ skater Deanna Stellato-Dudek is the grande dame of competitive figure skating, trying to become, at age 40, the oldest skater to win a world title in any discipline in decades. “You know,” she said, “there’s no points in figure skating for being older.” She and her 32-year-old partner, Maxime Deschamps, got plenty of them Wednesday with the best short program performance of their three international competition seasons together. The ..read more