Riku Miura, Ryuichi Kihara of Japan lead pairs after short program at World Figure Skating Championships
Defending champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada, skating to 'Crazy In Love' by Beyonce, were seventh with a score of 67.32.
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Americans Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the Skating Club of Boston had the home crowd on their side. They were greeted with the loudest cheers of the evening when introduced, and again when they finished skating their short program to 'Ameksa' and 'Uccen' by Taalbi Brothers.
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Then they were asked what it meant to have that kind of support in the aftermath of the Jan. 29
'It felt fantastic from the moment we stepped on the ice today,' Efimova said. 'This is a very special program for us. All the members of our club. I could hear their voices. . . . I was thinking about everyone [from the Skating Club of Boston]. It was very emotional. I am very thankful to be in front of the Boston crowd.'
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, who train at the Skating Club of Boston, were in ninth place after the short program.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Efimova and Mitrofanov, who won the US championship in January, held photos of the six Skating Club of Boston victims as they awaited their scores in the kiss-and-cry area. When their scores flashed, the crowd erupted yet again because their 63.70 score put them in first after two groups. They are in ninth place heading into the free skate.
Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the other American pair in the field, were fifth with a score of 68.61.
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Gabriella Izzo, the Boston native who was the 2019 US junior champion in women's singles, switched to pairs skating in 2023 and now represents Austria. Izzo and partner Luc Maierhofer skated first in the pairs short program, scored 48.20, and their last-place finish meant they missed the cut for Thursday's free skate.
Matt Pepin can be reached at
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