The big stories of these championships?
It’s incredibly difficult to pick just one – but no worries, we got you covered.
We invite you in a journey of grand emotions, a journey of moments that defined this season’s edition of the World Championships in Montreal. Cause they were many, and we are grateful for each and every one of them.
Come and relive them through our photos, come and relive them through #photosthatyoufeel.
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Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps making history for themselves, for the discipline and for the sport itself by winning the pairs’ World gold in Montreal and proving that age is just a number and dreams are there to be fulfilled if you’re chasing them ardently, passionately.
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Kaori Sakamoto winning her third (consecutive) World title – a feat that hasn’t happened since Peggy Fleming won her titles, in 1966-1968 – after a season which has been abundantly hers: Kaori won all competitions she entered, like the skating queen she is.
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Ilia Malinin’s tour de force through quadruple jumps, skating and his own (seemingly unlimited) abilities, athleticism, all of those bringing him to World record scores that won’t be easily topped.
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Adam Siao Him Fa winning the battle against himself, the-Adam-that-is-doubting, and making an unheard of comeback from 19th place after the short program to bronze medal overall.
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Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara returning from injury, from a difficult season overall, and winning their third consecutive World medal (silver, after the gold they won last season and the silver a season before).
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Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier dancing through the nuances, the drama, the intensity of their “Wuthering Heights” free dance that made us feel all the feels, one of the emotional highlights of these Championships for us at Inside Skating. The silver medal was just the cherry on the top – and one more World medal to fit in Piper’s drawer.
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Yuma Kagiyama returning to top form after a season, 2022/2023, that was meant to heal his wounds, and claiming one of the top spots at Worlds again with that mesmerizing skating he’s got. What else he’s got? His third World silver medal.
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Chaeyeon Kim winning a World bronze medal only seven years after she’d started skating. How is that for progress, talent, perseverance?
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Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin gelling into this beautiful pair in such a short amount of time and winning a World bronze medal in their first season together.
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Isabeau Levito overcoming her doubts, answering the big questions (No, she hasn’t lost her competitiveness, her fierceness) and winning her first World medal, the silver one, capturing three spots for US women’s skating at Worlds on home ground, in Boston, next season.
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Madison Chock and Evan Bates winning their second World title – this one in the town where they got to experience a renaissance of their skating.
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Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri dancing to World bronze, after the silver one last season, and continuing what has become, no doubt, the best part, best years of their career.
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And these are only the stories of the medalists – but what about Young You coming back where she belongs, in the last group at Worlds, after that stunning tango short program of hers?
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What about Loena Hendrickx’s sparkling short program performance that won her a small World gold medal that she can now add to her collection of World medals?
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What about Shoma Uno always becoming one with his programs, his music? What about the silence in his gliding, the emotions brought to life while skating? This season he’s been poetry on ice, that’s what he’s been.
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What about Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha skating their hearts out in front of a home audience? All of that after what has been a difficult preparation for Worlds, with Marjorie struggling with the consequences of a concussion.
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What about Kimmy Repond having the best free skate of her career at World Championships, establishing herself as a skater to watch the following seasons?
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What about Jason Brown raising us on our feet after yet another stunning performance of his Impossible Dream?
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What about Haein Lee luring us all, like the siren she is, into her hypnotic short program performance?
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What about Cheng Peng’s return to the World Championships, her 8th one, alongside Lei Wang, a proof that skating dreams are there to be lived and not pushed back?
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What about Mone Chiba skating like the talent she is in her first World Championships?
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What about Deniss Vasiljevs’ skating? Where the skating itself becomes a highlight of every competition Deniss takes part in.
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What about Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, a team that’s on the rise since their move to London campus of I.AM? Under the guidance of Madison Hubbell, Scott Moir, Adrian Diaz, they almost seem a new team – and what a mesmerizing team.
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What about Lukas Britschgi becoming better and better and thriving on the big scene?
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What about Nikolaj Memola finishing the first Worlds of his career in Top 10?
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What about the fierceness in both Czech ice dance teams? Natalie Taschlerova and Filip Taschler, on one hand, Katerina Mrazkova and Daniel Mrazek, on the other. You’d better watch out – their speed, their power, their fire are out of this world.
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What about Ekaterina Kurakova’s resilience and love for skating, so beautifully illustrated by her free skate at Worlds?
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And what about that thrilling skate from Olga Mikutina, maybe the best long program she’s ever performed?
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What about Livia Kaiser rising to the moment and skating big in the first World Championships of her career?
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And what about sparkling-blue Olivia Smart, coming back to the world of competitive ice dance with Tim Dieck, because the spark and love for skating haven’t vanished?
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What about Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius living their best life, their best season, the best time of their career?
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And what about the butterflies in Hannah Lim and Ye Quan’s skating? This is only their first season in seniors – and they’re already making waves.
[All photos by Alberto Ponti / Montreal]
NOT ENOUGH PHOTOS?
Say no more: #photosthatyoufeel from 2024 Worlds to follow