16 h. ago Unstoppable Malinin repeats as world champion with six quadruple jumps

American star romps to second world figure skating titleMalinin lands six quadruple jumps including quad axelKazakhstan’s Shaidorov second, Japan’s Kagiyama thirdHe’s been called the Quad God, skating’s great innovator, the next Olympic champion. On Saturday night, in front of a roaring crowd at TD Garden, Ilia Malinin made it official: he is once again the best figure skater in the world.The 20-year-old American conjured another sensational free skate to close out the world figure skating championships, landing a record-tying six quadruple jumps in strolling to his second straight world title. His season-best total score of 318.56 landed him a yawning 31.09 points clear of Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, who captured silver with a personal-best routine, and Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who dropped from second place to the bronze after an error-strewn long program. Continue reading...

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28 h. ago Alysa Liu left figure skating behind. She came back better than ever

After a two-year retirement prompted by burnout and fatigue, the American skater found her way back to the ice – and became the world champion no one saw comingAlysa Liu hadn’t even checked her phone. She didn’t know who had called, who had texted or who had screamed at their television when her gold-medal score flashed onto the screen. But she knew exactly who she wanted to call first.“My siblings,” she said, laughing. “They have no idea that this is happening.” Continue reading...

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32 h. ago Scottish ice dancers have 'skate we've been hoping for' in World Figure Skating Championships first

The couple are in a medal position for the first time at the World Figure Skating Championships

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40 h. ago ‘What the hell?’ Alysa Liu wins USA’s first women’s figure skating world title in 19 years

Liu completes stunning comeback with world titleJapan’s Sakamoto finishes second and Chiba thirdAlysa Liu completed her stunning comeback to competitive figure skating with a world championship title on Friday night in Boston, becoming the first American woman to win the sport’s biggest competition outside the Olympics in nearly two decades.The 19-year-old from Clovis, California, who vanished from the sport nearly three years ago uncertain if she’d ever return, delivered a spellbinding free skate inside a sold-out TD Garden to dethrone three-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan. Skating in a shimmering gold dress to the pulsing sounds of Boston-born Donna Summer, Liu landed all of her jumps cleanly and drew a standing ovation before finishing with 222.97 points overall – enough to secure gold in front of a rollicking home crowd. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Amber Glenn, the skater redefining what power looks like on the ice

She’s a Grand Prix champion, a triple Axel pioneer and one of figure skating’s most formidable athletes. But her artistry, not just her athleticism, may be what changes the sportWhen Amber Glenn takes the ice for the free skate on Friday night at the world figure skating championships in Boston after a disappointing short program, fans will be holding their breath. Undefeated this season, she was seen as the one to beat. The Grand Prix final Champion, two-time US champion, the only woman to regularly land a triple Axel in competition (on which she suffered an uncharacteristic fall, landing her ninth place in the short on Wednesday afternoon), she had been tipped to become the first US woman to win the world title in nearly 20 years. But with less than seven points between her and first place, nothing is impossible. And while much of the tenacity that could still bring her victory this week lies in her raw athleticism, Glenn has something in her arsenal more tenuous, and more volatil...

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3 d. ago Alysa Liu vaults to shock lead at figure skating worlds with statement program

American leads after short at worlds as favorites falterJapan’s Chiba second, USA’s Levito third entering freeInterview: Liu on her remarkable comeback to skatingAlysa Liu became the youngest ever US figure skating champion at 13 years old before vanishing from the sport at 16, uncertain if she’d ever return. Now, at 19, she’s back – and suddenly within touching distance of a world title that no American woman has claimed in nearly two decades.On the opening afternoon of the world figure skating championships, the teenager from Clovis, California, delivered a career-best short program that not only captivated the home crowd at TD Garden, but vaulted her into the lead with 74.58 points – her highest international score to date. Her emotional performance to the song Promise by Laufey and Dan Wilson enamored the crowd and left Liu blinking back tears as she exited the ice. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago ‘If there was no one on Earth, I would still skate’: Alysa Liu on her remarkable figure skating comeback

She was the youngest ever US figure skating champion at 13 before leaving it all behind. Now Alysa Liu is back at this week’s world championships with a renewed purposeAlysa Liu looks back on the ice as rotates on her left foot, picking up speed before she completes her triple flip-triple toe combination. A group of high schoolers on a field trip sitting in the stands erupts into applause. She gives a smile and small bow as she skates away. It’s a recovery day for her, starting with dynamic stretching and cardio before moving onto the ice with her jumps, spins, and footwork. She drives herself to the rink for a two-hour skating session. Later this afternoon, she plans to attend her brother’s basketball game.If you had asked Liu a year and a half ago if she would be preparing for another figure skating world championships, she would have told you that you were crazy. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Bridging the political divide: US and Canadian skaters hope sports can unify during worlds in Boston

One of the best rivalries in figure skating in recent years has been between Canada and the U.S. in ice dancing

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2 w. ago The big picture: a pioneering Indian skater girl shows off her prized board

Photographer Chantal Pinzi travelled the globe to take shots of female skateboarders who defy cultural norms, including this one of Asha GondFor the past few years the Italian photographer Chantal Pinzi has been documenting the rebel spirit of female skateboarders, in a project she calls Shred the Patriarchy. Her original focus was on girls who skated in Morocco, in defiance of cultural norms. She continued that project in rural India, where a handful of women have used skateboarding to stake out public spaces for themselves.One pioneer of this is Asha Gond, who grew up in a farming family in the village of Janwaar in Madhya Pradesh. In 2014 a charitable organisation, the Rural Changemakers, helped to fund a skatepark in the village, built with the help of the community as a way of driving social and cultural development. Gond, one inspiration for the Netflix series Skater Girl, learned her skills at the park and became India’s only female competitor at the world skateboarding champ...

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