Figure Skating-Americans Chock and Bates skate to third straight ice dance title
BOSTON, March 29 (Reuters) - Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates danced to gold at the World Figure Skating Championships on Saturday to become the first team in 28 years to capture three consecutive world ice dance titles.
Leading by almost four points after their electrifying rhythm dance on Friday -- vast by ice dance standards -- Chock and Bates were almost perfect to score 131.88 points for their sophisticated free dance program to jazz classic "Take Five," for a total of 222.06.
Their final spin in which Chock balanced on Bates' outstretched foot had fans at TD Garden leaping to their feet seconds before the program ended.
Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won silver for the second consecutive season, scoring 130.10 for their elegant skate to the Annie Lennox cover of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" for a total 216.54.
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson scored 207.11 for bronze to become the first British world ice dance medallists since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean capped a string of four straight victories in 1984.
Chock and Bates, six-times U.S. champions and married couple, are the first team to win three world titles in a row since Russians Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov claimed four straight between 1994 and 1997.
The victory sets the Americans up as favourites for next year's Milano-Cortina Olympics, where they will be aiming for their first Games ice dance medal. They were part of the U.S. squad that captured gold in the team event at the 2022 Beijing Games.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Women's Super League had record revenues in 2023-24 season
MANCHESTER, England, June 9 (Reuters) - Revenues for Women's Super League (WSL) clubs climbed by 34% to hit 65 million pounds ($88.2 million) for the first time during a record-breaking 2023-24 season, according to analysis from the Deloitte Sports Business Group. Each of the 12 WSL clubs generated over one million pounds in revenue for the first time, with increases in commercial and match-day revenues contributing to significant growth across the league. Deloitte is forecasting WSL clubs' total revenue will reach 100 million pounds in the 2025-26 season following the Women's European Championship next month in Switzerland. Revenues climbed from 48 million pounds in the 2022-23 season, an increase driven by growth in commercial revenue, which now accounts for 40% of WSL clubs' total revenue. The 2023-24 season came after England finished runners-up to Spain in the 2023 Women's World Cup. "Women's football in England is evolving rapidly," Tim Bridge, lead partner in the Deloitte Sports Business Group, said in a statement. "While challenges remain, it is clear there is potential for a passionate and engaged fan base to drive the game's development. "Capitalising on major international tournaments is important at specific points in time, but sustainable growth hinges on the domestic league's organic development." The increases were driven mainly by four clubs, with Arsenal (15.3 million), Chelsea (11.5), Manchester United (9.2) and Manchester City (6.6) accounting for about two thirds of the money made across the league. ($1 = 0.7368 pounds)
Powys County Times
5 hours ago
- Powys County Times
5 things we learned from the 2025 French Open following two epic finals
Carlos Alcaraz defended his French Open title and Coco Gauff won her first after two epic finals on the Paris clay. Here, the PA news agency looks at what we learned from Roland Garros 2025. Do believe the hype The dawn of a new era in men's tennis finally arrived, and in some style. Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have dominated the sport for two years but, like a pair of heavyweight boxers ducking one another, they had never met in a grand slam final. Roland Garros set the stage and the best players on the planet delivered a stone-cold classic, with Alcaraz saving three championship points before winning the longest final in French Open history, a five-set, five-hour 29-minute epic. It was the first major final between two men born in this century and on this evidence, there will be plenty more. Just one thing. Lose the rugby shirts, guys. Coco's star shines It is hard to believe Gauff is still only 21, having burst on to the scene six years ago at Wimbledon. The charismatic American's victory over Aryna Sabalenka for a second grand slam title showed such maturity, as did her comments afterwards about trying to be a beacon of hope for 'Americans who look like me' amid a period of political turmoil in her homeland. She became the first American idol of Roland Garros since Serena Williams a decade earlier and has time on her side to collect many more titles. Aryna angry again Sabalenka remains the best player on the planet – the runaway world number one – and will head to Wimbledon as a big favourite for the title. The Belarusian has made huge strides to exorcise the demons that used to dog her in big matches and has three grand slam titles to show for it. But she has lost the last two major finals, including a surprise defeat to Madison Keys in Australia, and the mental fragility seemed to return against Gauff with 70 unforced errors telling their own story. A reset is required if the 27-year-old is to add a Wimbledon crown to her US and Australian Open titles. Novak's Aussie farewell? Novak. Djokovic. #RolandGarros — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2025 Novak Djokovic admitted he may have played his last match at Roland Garros after going down in three tight sets to Sinner in the semi-finals. He proved once again he can still mix it with the elite, especially after a superb four-set dismantling of Alexander Zverev in the last eight. But at 38, he knows he is running out of time. Will he hold his retirement party at next January's Australian Open, a tournament he has won 10 times and which he feels is his best chance to land that elusive record 25th grand slam title? The Brits are all right Jack Draper led the British challenge and, as predicted, got the furthest. Yet he was probably the biggest disappointment. Seeded fifth and drawn to meet Sinner in the quarter-finals, he fell in the fourth round to world number 62 Alexander Bublik. Still, he got his first Roland Garros wins under his belt, as did Jacob Fearnley, Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal, while Cameron Norrie enjoyed a much-needed run to the third round following a tough 18 months. Then there was Hannah Klugman, at 16 a first British junior finalist in almost 50 years. It was all a vast improvement on last year's first-round wipe-out.
Glasgow Times
5 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
5 things we learned from the 2025 French Open following two epic finals
Here, the PA news agency looks at what we learned from Roland Garros 2025. Do believe the hype Carlos Alcaraz (right) and runner-up Jannik Sinner look set for an enduring rivalry (Lindsey Wasson/AP) The dawn of a new era in men's tennis finally arrived, and in some style. Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have dominated the sport for two years but, like a pair of heavyweight boxers ducking one another, they had never met in a grand slam final. Roland Garros set the stage and the best players on the planet delivered a stone-cold classic, with Alcaraz saving three championship points before winning the longest final in French Open history, a five-set, five-hour 29-minute epic. It was the first major final between two men born in this century and on this evidence, there will be plenty more. Just one thing. Lose the rugby shirts, guys. Coco's star shines Coco Gauff dazzled as the women's champion (Thomas Padilla/AP) It is hard to believe Gauff is still only 21, having burst on to the scene six years ago at Wimbledon. The charismatic American's victory over Aryna Sabalenka for a second grand slam title showed such maturity, as did her comments afterwards about trying to be a beacon of hope for 'Americans who look like me' amid a period of political turmoil in her homeland. She became the first American idol of Roland Garros since Serena Williams a decade earlier and has time on her side to collect many more titles. Aryna angry again Aryna Sabalenka lost a second-straight grand slam final (Lindsey Wasson/AP) Sabalenka remains the best player on the planet – the runaway world number one – and will head to Wimbledon as a big favourite for the title. The Belarusian has made huge strides to exorcise the demons that used to dog her in big matches and has three grand slam titles to show for it. But she has lost the last two major finals, including a surprise defeat to Madison Keys in Australia, and the mental fragility seemed to return against Gauff with 70 unforced errors telling their own story. A reset is required if the 27-year-old is to add a Wimbledon crown to her US and Australian Open titles. Novak's Aussie farewell? Novak Djokovic admitted he may have played his last match at Roland Garros after going down in three tight sets to Sinner in the semi-finals. He proved once again he can still mix it with the elite, especially after a superb four-set dismantling of Alexander Zverev in the last eight. But at 38, he knows he is running out of time. Will he hold his retirement party at next January's Australian Open, a tournament he has won 10 times and which he feels is his best chance to land that elusive record 25th grand slam title? The Brits are all right Jack Draper reached the fourth round (Jon Buckle/PA) Jack Draper led the British challenge and, as predicted, got the furthest. Yet he was probably the biggest disappointment. Seeded fifth and drawn to meet Sinner in the quarter-finals, he fell in the fourth round to world number 62 Alexander Bublik. Still, he got his first Roland Garros wins under his belt, as did Jacob Fearnley, Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal, while Cameron Norrie enjoyed a much-needed run to the third round following a tough 18 months. Then there was Hannah Klugman, at 16 a first British junior finalist in almost 50 years. It was all a vast improvement on last year's first-round wipe-out.
