Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov embrace fourth-place showing in World Figure Skating pairs
Efimova saw a roaring standing ovation and gifts being rained down on the ice.
The Norwood-based pair performed the best free skate of their career at their first World Championships in front of a hometown crowd. It was a moment most athletes never have, and in just the second year of their partnership, they had done it.
Scoring a 135.59, Efimova and Mitrofanov ended up fourth in the free skate, elevating them to sixth place overall, the top ranked US pair.
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The US pair of Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov were fourth in the free skate program, elevating them to sixth overall and ranking them as the top US pair.
Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images
The event was won by Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who won their second-consecutive title by just .71 of a point over Germans Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, 219.79-219.08. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy earned bronze.
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'This means everything,' said Mitrofanov. 'All the hard work that we've been putting in paid off. We were very happy to make everyone proud at the Garden today.'
Skating 12th of 20 pairs, Efimova and Mitrofanov's free skate score led the night until the final three skaters of the event. Their finish, combined with the seventh-place result of fellow American pair Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, gives the US the opportunity to qualify a third pairs team for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina. It would be the first time since 1994 the US would send three pairs to the Olympics.
Qualifying a third Olympic team had been a goal of Efimova and Mitrofanov once they won the national title in January, even though they are currently not eligible to represent the US in Olympic competition due to Efimova's Finnish citizenship. (The pair is currently working on citizenship options.)
'It was something that we really wanted to strive for, whether or not it could be us,' said Mitrofanov.
Moments later, while still talking to the media, Efimova and Mitrofanov learned that they had achieved that goal. Efimova gasped.
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'We did it,' Mitrofanov sighed while wrapping Efimova in a hug.
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