LETTER FROM THE EDITOR


Packed TD Garden, inspired skating make 2016 Worlds wildly successful


Navigating the bustling sidewalks leading into Boston’s TD Garden for the ladies free skate, a scalp-


er worked the growing crowd. “Tickets! Who’s got tickets? I need some fi gure skating tickets here!” A scalper. At a fi gure skating event. In America. It was a pinch-me moment. This wasn’t Boston’s NHL Bruins or NBA Celtics. This was the 2016 World Figure Skating Champion-


ships at a sold-out TD Garden. Over the fi ve-day event, a total of 108,264 fans attended nine ticketed sessions. To paint a more


clear picture, that’s an average of 12,000-plus people in the seats for each event. On Saturday, both the ladies and pairs free skates sold out. And yes, you read that right: Pairs sold out. Boston, arguably America’s greatest sports city, proved to be the perfect melting pot for this in-


ternational event. Always fi ercely loyal to the home team, Bostonians shook the Garden rafters to cele- brate the best fi gure skaters in the world, regardless of their home fl ags. When Canada’s Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford put out an athletic and fl awless free skate to


defend their World pairs title, 15,023 fans went crazy. During an interview in the kiss and cry, an appreciative Duhamel looked up high into the nose-


bleed seats and squinted. “We are honorary Americans today,” she told the crowd, “but proud Canadi- ans.”


The place again went nuts. Even Russia’s Evgenia Medvedeva, the newly minted ladies World champion, was wowed by the


supportive crowd. “This is probably the biggest audience that I’ve faced, ever,” the 16-year-old Medvedeva said


through a translator. “And I heard a lot of shout-outs in Russian supporting me, which was an incredible experience. I realized that some of these people came especially to watch me and traveled so far.” Indeed, there was something special about this crowd. It applauded greatness but still lifted those


who had fallen. Shoma Uno, the promising young Japanese skater, fought back tears in the kiss and cry after a


disappointing free skate. When the arena camera focused tightly on his face, the crowd cheered its appreciation for his eff ort, helping the 18-year-old muster a small grin. But of course, this was a distinctly pro-American crowd, and home ice has its advantages.


Not that the U.S. ice dance teams needed that much help, as Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani earned the silver and Madison Chock and Evan Bates claimed the bronze. Add a sixth-place fi nish by Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue and it’s clear that ice dance excellence lives here. U.S. champion Adam Rippon specifi cally crafted his Beatles medley free skate for this very mo-


ment, literally striking a chord with the American audience. When the iconic “A Hard Day’s Night” rever- berated through the arena, fans willfully fell into Rippon’s able hands. From there, he mixed athleticism with entertainment, even toying with the exuberant crowd to ask for more. They loved it. He loved it. And the judges loved it. Rippon put up personal-best scores, collecting a


career high 264.44 points to fi nish sixth. Max Aaron couldn’t contain his excitement after his teammate’s performance, bursting from the


ISU’s televised green room to hug both Rippon and his coach, Rafael Arutunian. “Getting a standing ovation at your home country’s Worlds is an experience unlike any experience,”


a grateful Rippon said about the audience. The next night, the home crowd received a fi nal gift. As if to put a bow on these championships,


Americans Gracie Gold and Ashley Wagner drew the fi nal two spots of the entire competition with the chance of not one but two ladies medals. Medvedeva’s record-setting free skate could have sucked the air out of the arena, but this is Bos-


ton, home of the home team. After Gold fell from fi rst to third with only Wagner left to skate, it was a fact that the U.S. ladies’ 10-year medals drought was over. But would it be Gold or Wagner standing on the podium? As the lyrics “The show must go on” hauntingly bellowed near the end of Wagner’s Moulin Rouge!


program, the audience became so loud that it was almost impossible for Wagner to hear the music coming into her last jumping pass, the triple Lutz, which she famously popped at the U.S. Champion- ships. But once she hit it, bedlam! As fi ve-time World champion Michelle Kwan has said, there is nothing better than skating on


home ice. Perhaps that’s why Team USA was the top nation in medals (3) and the only nation to earn top-10 placements in ladies, men and ice dance. After an exciting World Championships, let’s let Mirai Nagasu wrap this up: “Thank you, Boston, for such an amazing event,” she said. “Your attention to detail has been above and beyond and I am so grateful and ecstatic to be a part of this event.”


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4 MAY 2016


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