2017 ISU WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
PAIRS Disappointing news overshadowed Alexa
Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim’s solid 10th-place finish in Helsinki. A mistake-riddled short program, including falls on side-by-side triple Salchows and a throw triple loop, by U.S. champions Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier prevent- ed them from qualifying for the free skate, which in the end, resulted in the United States losing one of its two spots at the 2018 Olympics.
Tis marks only the second time in
Olympic Winter Games history that the U.S. will be sending one pairs entry. Te first occurred in 1924. Te last time a U.S. team won a medal at the Olympics was 1988, when Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard claimed bronze in Calgary. Te last Worlds medal for the U.S.? Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman in 2002 in Nagano. “Tat was nowhere near our full poten-
tial,” Frazier said. “It was just a bad skate.” “[Tat skate] wasn’t how we normally
train,” Denney added. “Both of our mistakes were silly. Our throw was out of the ordinary and so were the Salchows. It was not our best but we had a good fight through the rest of the program.” Denney and Frazier finished 20th in the 28-team field with a score of 56.23. Te Knierims, who missed the Grand
2016 World silver medalist Ashley Wagner dials up the attitude with her “Sweet Dreams” short program.
@ Karebearsk8 for saving America, because let’s be honest, she did,” Wagner tweeted. “First time at Worlds and she saves the day.” Wagner, the defending World silver medalist competing at her seventh World Championships, also put herself in medal contention with an attitude-filled and clean program to “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics. She placed seventh with a score of 69.04. During her free skate to “Exogenesis
Symphony Part 3” by Muse, Wagner experi- enced problems with several of her jumping passes, getting flagged for underrotation and edge violations. She finished 10th in the segment. “It’s frustrating,” Wagner said. “I came to this competition prepared. In my practices, I have been the strongest that I’ve ever skated. So today was one of those days where my head got in the way. I can be a mental skater and I let myself be weak today and that’s frustrating. Tis is the season to experience that, though.
24 MAY 2017
U.S. bronze medalist Mariah Bell caps her best season at the World Championships.
I will always be a World silver medalist and I need to skate like a World silver medalist. Today, I just didn’t do that.” One of Wagner’s training mates in Lake- wood, California, Mariah Bell, placed 13th in the short program and ninth in the free skate for a total score of 187.23. Like Chen, Bell made her Worlds debut. “I had so much fun,” Bell, the U.S.
bronze medalist, said. “Just to finish my season and put out a program that I’m really proud of at Worlds under a little bit of pres- sure is something I’m really proud of. It’s been an awesome, awesome season and I’m excited to get back home and get back to work.” Russia’s Evgenia Medvedeva repeated as
World champion with two dynamic programs and an overall score of 233.41. Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond won the silver medal with 218.13 points, followed by her teammate Gabrielle Daleman, who secured bronze with 213.52 points.
Prix season and the U.S. Championships due to Scimeca Knierim’s abdominal illness and surgeries, continued their late-season surge. Tey placed sixth in mid-February at the ISU Four Continents Championships. Te couple finished eighth in the short
program and 11th in the free skate for a total score of 202.37. “Tis was a hard competition this year
for pairs, so it’s no joke to be in the top 10,” Knierim said. “We definitely improved on last year’s Worlds [190.06 points] by a big margin, which is very nice, seeing as how we haven’t been training but for a couple of months. It wasn’t perfect, but we weren’t coming out here to be perfect.” Tis competition marked the first time
at Worlds since the inception of the inter- national judging system that every team in the top 10 scored more than 200 points. A little more than four points separated fifth place and 10th place. Te Knierims are the only U.S. team to have broken 200 points internationally. “We’re very happy,” Knierim said. “Hav-
ing the opportunity to be here and on the team is such a huge honor for us. … We’re happy that our federation had faith in us to
JOOSEP MARTINSON - ISU/ISU VIA GETTY IPHOTOS BY MAGES
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