{"id":26006,"date":"2021-04-01T18:02:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T22:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=26006"},"modified":"2021-04-01T18:02:24","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T22:02:24","slug":"recap-2021-world-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/recap-2021-world-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Recap: 2021 World Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Anne Calder | Photo by Robin Ritoss<\/em><\/p>\n

The Montreal 2020 World Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which made the 2019 World gold medalists reigning champions until the 2021 event was held in Stockholm, Sweden.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to the uncertainties surrounding the 2021 World Championships, Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron (FRA), the 2019 ice dance champions, opted not to defend their title and instead work on their programs for the 2022 Olympics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Two years after the Saitama, Japan World Championships new medalists were crowned: (1) Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov (FSR), (2) Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue (USA) and (3) Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (CAN).<\/p>\n

RHYTHM DANCE<\/b><\/p>\n

COVID-19 had caused many difficulties and inequities to ice dancers world wide, so April 2020 the ISU announced the decision to maintain the same basic Rhythm Dance requirements for the next season. This meant the Finn Step and musicals and\/or operettas would be repeated in the 2020-2021 programs whether used for a second consecutive year or newly choreographed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Friday, March 26, thirty-one athletes representing twenty-three nations competed in the Rhythm Dance. Twenty qualified for the Free Dance. An audience of teammates and coaches, who cheered enthusiastically for everyone, replaced the cardboard cutouts familiar to Skate America and US Nationals viewers.<\/p>\n

Sinitsina & Katsalapov took first place with a light and animated performance to \u201cSinging in the Rain\u201d from the 2019-20 season. All but two of the 45 GOEs were awarded +3, +4, or +5. The midline step sequence earned 11.71 total points. Program components were mostly above 9.50 including three perfect 10s. The segment scored 88.15 points<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled with the work we did today. We skated with our soul, and we enjoyed it,\u201d\u00a0 Katsalapov said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe just kept calm and showed what we worked on,\u201d Sinitsina added.<\/p>\n

Skating last, Hubbell & Donohue knew the Russians were three-points ahead. The Americans opened with intricate footwork that was rewarded with the only level 4 for both the lady and man\u2019s Pattern Step Sequences. The in-sync twizzles demonstrated speed and wide ice coverage and earned a 9.75 score – the highest in all the Rhythm Dances.<\/p>\n

The reigning US Champions earned 86.05 points and moved into second place with their performance to the backstage musical film, Burlesque, <\/i>created for the current season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Donohue explained the rationale behind the new program. \u201cWe get bored really easy and have a hard time keeping a program for two seasons. We like to change things up a lot. It keeps things real and authentic for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hubbell added, \u201cWe like to keep things truly connected in the piece. Once it becomes too rehearsed, and we\u2019ve done it for eight months, it\u2019s hard to inject new life into it. We were trying to tweak \u2018Marilyn\u2019, but we thought we\u2019d gotten everything out of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlso at last season\u2019s Four Continents, we skated it well, but there wasn\u2019t as big of a competitive gap as we like, so we decided to change the theme to something more modern, and I was ready for a new challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chock & Bates scored the second highest Diagonal Step Sequence with 11.43 points. However, the level 3 twizzles cost them points and allowed their Montreal training mates to pass them with a .90 lead. The 2021 US silver medalists scored 86.15 for their tantalizing interpretation of \u201cToo Darn Hot\u201d. Skating such an energetic program in front of a small audience could have been more difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe audience here is definitely supportive,\u201d Chock said. \u201cSkating in the last group meant the other competitors ran to the stands to cheer for us,\u201d Bates said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun. I think there were about 100 people socially distancing in the arena. It\u2019s a new norm and something we are adjusting to,\u201d added Bates.<\/p>\n

Canadians Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier added the expertise of off-ice dance choreographer Jeff Dimitriou to their team for the development of their Mack and Mable<\/i> musical program. The fourth place performance opened with level 4 twizzles that scored all +4 GOEs. The segment totaled 83.37 points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gilles addressed the issue of not having competed since the 2020 Four Continents. \u201cWe were a little nervous not having competitions this season, but we definitely knew we had the training behind us. We just enjoyed performing again.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so nice being in a competition setting again,\u201d Poirier added. \u201cWe\u2019ve done lots of simulations at home, but competing with a panel and with the top couples in the world \u2013 that\u2019s a very different feeling, and it felt so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four-time European medalists Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin (FSR) scored 83.02 points but were very disappointed with their fifth place performance to selections from Moulin Rouge<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bukin noted, \u201cWe are upset with the mistakes, not so much with the marks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stepanova assumed the blame, \u201cI made several mistakes, so I am very upset, but there is tomorrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri (ITA) scored 81.04 points with their sixth place program to Grease.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really proud of what we performed today because there were no major mistakes,\u201d Fabbri said.<\/p>\n

FREE DANCE<\/b><\/p>\n

Twenty teams competed for the Free Dance and the coveted World Championship title. The dancers skated in reverse order of their Rhythm Dance placement. There was some shuffling with the top four positions and a team who\u2019d never medaled at Worlds before stood on the virtual podium.<\/p>\n

The technical panel and judges rewarded Sinitsina & Katsalapov with a personal best 133.02 for their emotional performance to selections by composers Ludovico Einardi and Antoni Dvorak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2020 European champions\u2019 lifts, spin and twizzles earned level 4. The Serpentine Step Sequence was level 3. Skating under the FSR banner, they ended a 12-year World Championship Russian ice dance gold medal drought with a 221.17 personal total.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis medal means so much for us, it\u2019s so precious for us,\u201d Katsalapov said. \u201cWe went through so many hardships, not just us, but the others also. This medal means we can work harder; we can improve and be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy. I don\u2019t know what to say right now. I just want to smile and cry,\u201d Sinitsina added.<\/p>\n

Hubbell & Donohue showed off their new program with Karl Hugo\u2019s \u201cPray Gently to the Light\u201d bridging the bookended Jeff Buckley and kd lang \u201cHallelujah\u201d vocals. The Scott Moir choreography earned level 4 for the lifts, spin and Donohue\u2019s twizzle. They each scored level 3 for the One-Foot Step, but the Circular step sequence was level 2. The 128.66 points placed them third, but their 214.71 score secured a silver medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re feeling a strange mixture of emotions right now,\u201d Hubbell said. \u201cThere\u2019s a relief that this competition is over and proud of how we handled this week, but there\u2019s also that bit of dissatisfaction at not bringing home the gold medal, so right now I\u2019m a little bit numb.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur only option is to sit back and enjoy our win, which wasn\u2019t what we came here for, but still incredibly dear to us, and we\u2019re going to celebrate that together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilles & Poirier danced a riveting performance to Joni Mitchell\u2019s \u201cBoth Sides Now\u201d. The music was originally chosen in 2019 to highlight the Canadian singer-songwriter at the 2020 Montreal World Championships. The Canadian National Champions earned level 4 for the spin, lifts and twizzles. Poirier\u2019s One-Foot and Diagonal Step Sequences were level 3.<\/p>\n

The segment scored a second place 130.98; the total scored a third place 214.35. Both scores were personal bests. The final point count between silver and bronze differed by .36 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our eighth World Championships together,\u201d Poirier said. \u201cWe were stuck between sixth and eighth for a very long time — since 2014. Just the pent-up frustration of so many years and being able to accomplish this feels like such a nice release.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put it upon ourselves to be on the podium because we wanted that going into the Olympics and to be podium contenders there also. Our goal is to build on the brand we\u2019ve created over the past several seasons. All our music is ready. The Rhythm Dance is choreographed; the Free Dance is under construction. We\u2019re excited!\u201d<\/p>\n

Chock & Bates performed their iconic and entertaining \u201cEgyptian Snake Dance\u201d for a 127.54 segment score. The lifts, spin and Chock\u2019s twizzle earned level 4. The One-Foot and Circular Step Sequences plus the Bates twizzle were level 3. The total 212.69 slipped the US silver medalists off the virtual podium and into fourth place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were certainly a few seconds in the program where I made some technical errors that were obviously costly, and honestly I\u2019m quite disappointed about it,\u201d Bates said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of what we love about the sport. If it were a guaranteed thing that every time we could just show up and win the gold medal, then it would be easy.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe real pleasure comes from working hard, getting knocked down and coming back stronger. We\u2019ve been through a lot of those moments, and this is one in particular that is quite disappointing for us. We\u2019re certainly going to come back next season stronger and with the same goals in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stepanova & Bukin (FSR) danced to \u201cCry Me a River\u201d performed by Justin Timberlake and remained in fifth place with a total 208.77 score.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[After the disappointment of the Rhythm Dance], \u201cWe had nothing to lose,” Stepanova explained.\u00a0 “We made a gross mistake and as a result, finished very far from the top three. Today we decided with our coaches to skate with our hearts and for each other.”<\/p>\n

Guignard & Fabbri scored 205.20 points with their new program to the film Atonement<\/i>, for a sixth place finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not satisfied with last year\u2019s [David Bowie] program,\u201d Fabbri said. \u201c We had time to work on new elements and choreography, so why not move to a new program? Then we thought, that if it\u2019s going to work, why not keep it for the Olympic season. It\u2019s 99% sure that we\u2019ll keep it with some changes, upgrades and adjustments.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations to all thirty-one ice dance teams who participated in the virtual 2021 World Championships. Covid-19 has greatly affected the day-to-day routines of the figure skating community.\u00a0 <\/span>However, throughout the past year athletes, coaches, choreographers and many others involved in the sport have banded together to support each other. We all look forward to the start of a new season and the return to a more stable environment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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