Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps fifth at figure skating worlds

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BOSTON — Canadian pair Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps finished fifth at the world figure skating championships Thursday, missing the podium a year after capturing gold on home soil in Montreal.

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Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won their second world title with 219.79 points. They barely edged Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, who tallied 219.08 after an outstanding free skate.

Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii took bronze (210.47).

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps scored 132.44 points in their underwater-themed free skate for a total of 199.76 at TD Garden in Boston. They held the lead until all four teams in the final group scored higher.

Last year’s champions faced an uphill battle after placing seventh in Wednesday’s short program with a disappointing 67.32 points, their lowest this season.

Stellato-Dudek, a U.S.-born skater, became a Canadian citizen in December, allowing her to compete for the country at next year’s Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy.

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The 41-year-old partnered in 2019 with Deschamps, a 33-year-old from Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que. She became the oldest woman to win a world title in any figure skating discipline last year.

Despite winning two gold medals on the Grand Prix circuit, the duo didn’t reach the same heights this season. Their season-best total score of 210.92 was well below their personal best of 221.56 set at last year’s worlds.

Deschamps’ illness also forced them out of the Grand Prix Final in December, while Stellato-Dudek dealt with several minor injuries.

Lia Pereira, of Milton, and Trennt Michaud, of Trenton, finished 13th (179.50), falling from 10th after the short program following a shaky free skate.

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Kelly Ann Laurin, of St-Jerome, Que., and Loucas Ethier, of Deux-Montagnes, Que., were 18th (169.55).

The results at this year’s worlds have implications for the 2026 Winter Games. Canada’s top two teams fell short of the combined placement of 13 or lower required to secure three provisional spots for next year’s Olympics.

Earlier Thursday, American star Ilia Malinin of the U.S. won a thrilling men’s short program with a whopping 110.41 points, three off the world record set by Nathan Chen at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama followed with 107.09 in a stellar program of his own, while Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan was a distant third (94.77).

Roman Sadovsky, of Vaughan, posted an 80.25, just shy of a season-best, to rank 15th after his solid skate to Unconscious by Charlie Winston.

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“Overall, a really positive experience, really good energy here in the crowd — lots of Canadian flags,” said Sadovsky, who placed 19th at worlds in Montreal last year.

The 25-year-old qualified for Saturday’s free skate and likely secured one men’s event entry for Canada at the Olympics. Sadovsky would need to climb into the top 10 to earn his country a second provisional spot.

Competition continues Friday with the rhythm dance and women’s free program.

Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won ice dance silver last year and will battle two-time reigning champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. for gold in Boston.

Madeline Schizas, of Oakville, was sixth after the women’s short program.

The world championships are hosted by the Skating Club of Boston in mourning as it grieves the death of six members on Jan. 29, when an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C.

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