BOSTON (AP) — American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates built a big cushion Friday night as they chase a third consecutive world title, scoring a season-best 90.18 points for their rhythm dance to lead Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.
In what has fast become the best rivalry in figure skating, Gilles and Poirier scored 86.44 points to their dance, set to the most American of music: The Beach Boys. Then the American team followed them to the ice, and Chock and Bates — cheered on by a big home crowd in TD Garden — roared when they finished their “tour of the decades” program.
“It was probably the most fun I’ve had thus far on competitive ice in a performance, maybe ever,” Chock said. “It was really a joy to perform in front of a home crowd and share that excitement with Evan. It was the best.”
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson were third with 83.86 for Britain, and Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri looked out of sync while scoring 83.06 for fourth. They were the only nations to break up a whole lot of Canada and U.S. on the leaderboard.
Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha were fifth for Canada, just ahead of two American teams — Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko and the duo of Caroline Green and Michael Parsons — giving the neighboring nations five of the top seven.
“We really enjoyed this program,” said Gilles, who along with Poirier took silver behind Chock and Bates last year, but recently beat the U.S. dynamo at Four Continents. “I think we really drilled it in training, and we know exactly where each step needs to be. That allowed us to lose ourselves in the performance. And so we just had so much fun.”
The International Skating Union sets the requirements for the rhythm dance each season, and this year the world governing body settled on social dances and styles of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, providing the skaters plenty of latitude for their programs.
There were sock hops aplenty, and Chubby Checker implored everyone in the arena to twist “’til we tear the house down.” There were Watusis and Madisons, the “Soul Bossa Nova,” and proof that disco isn’t quite dead yet. And there were several homages to Donna Summer, who was born in the Boston neighborhood of Mission Hill.
Chock and Bates threw all of it into their tour through the decades. There was the “Hawaii Five-O” theme and “Let’s Twist Again.” They were “Stayin’ Alive” and took a trip through the “Car Wash.” The couple even tried to “blame it on the boogie” before getting the crowd to do the “Y.M.C.A.” And they fittingly finished with Summer’s rendition of “Last Dance.”
The competition continued Friday night with the women’s free skate, where American comeback kid Alysa Liu was trying to hold down first place following a short program that those in TD Garden rewarded with a standing ovation.
Liu, who stepped away from the sport shortly after the 2022 Winter Olympics, announced her comeback early last year. And while there have been some bumps along the way, the 19-year-old delivered one of her career-best performances Wednesday night, scoring 74.58 points to take a narrow lead over Mone Chiba of Japan and American teammate Isabeau Levito.
The U.S. has not had a women’s world champion since Kimmie Meissner in 2006.
Wakaba Higuchi and Kaori Sakamoto are close behind, and Sakamoto could make some history if she can overcome her 3-point deficit and become the first woman to win four consecutive world titles since Carol Heiss in the 1950s and ’60s.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Dave Skretta, The Associated Press
