Crystal Skate

The last final of the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships is here, and it's possibly the one we're most impatient to see. In the short programme, Gracie Gold put herself in the leader position, hinting at a possible gold medal in Boston. Can she carry the task until the end? And if she doesn't, which one of the ladies lining up for the chance to be world champion will take the title? Mirai Nagasu  shows once more she shouldn't be ignored. The only mistake is double-footing the landing of the triple Flip. The routine is set to music from The Great Gatsby . I love how she chose three different songs to cover all the nuances of the story from the romance to the glamorous parties. Gorgeous costume. Her score: 120.91 . Overall: 186.65 . Canada's Gabrielle Daleman takes on the role of Maria de Buenos Aires Photograph: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images North America Mao Asada  brings a sad story, Madame Butterfly , to the ice. Her facial expressions are phenomenal -...

The pairs' short programme left us all a bit dazed. The Olympic champions, Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov finished on third place despite a great (albeit not flawless) routine. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford exceeded expectations and finished ahead of them, but the biggest surprise were Wenjing Sui and Cong Han, who did a terrific Spanish Romance , which got them the first place. Will they be able to hold onto it? Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim  skate to one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever, that of Elizabeth: The Golden Age . It's glorious music, but a flawed performance. She falls both on the thrown triple Salchow and the side-by-side triple Toeloop, as well as steps out of the triple Flip. The side-by-side spins are not entirely in unison either. Their score: 118.69 . Overall: 190.06 . Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov  are not a lot better off than the Americans, but the quality is clearly higher. She singles out of the third triple Toeloop and falls on the side...

Ironically, the only final that seems predictable at the moment is the men's. Japan's hold on the gold  is strong, but can it be taken from Hanyu? Fernandez has great chances of taking the silver to Spain, while Chan could easily snatch the bronze. That doesn't mean we should underestimate the likes of Shoma Uno and Boyang Jin, who are waiting for the top three to make the kind of mistake that would knock them off the podium. Denis Ten 's beautiful Romeo and Juliet  suffers from a few technical errors. His biggest mistake is falling on the quad Toeloop. He gets himself back together in the second half of the programme, but this is not going to be good enough to get on the podium. His score: 151.58 . Overall: 230.13 . Deniss Vasiljevs  skates to Adagio for Tron  by Daft Punk. The medley is very smartly put together, but I'm not sure Jeff Bridge's voice makes much sense for the routine. It is a cool detail though. I love his camel combo spin - it's got an ...

The Olympic champions are back! How many times have we hoped to hear these words? Well, they're true tonight, and although they've been back all season long, tonight's the night when we get to see if Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov are reclaiming their supremacy in the pairs skating. They're up against the technical Duhamel & Radford, their own team mates Stolbova/Klimov and the delightful Sui/Han. We shouldn't forget, of course, about Aliona Savchenko/Bruno Massot . They have a whimsical piece of music ( Creature de Siam  from Kurios ) and less whimsical costumes, but a good performance overall. That triple twist is huge! Their score: 74.22 . Miriam Ziegler/Severin Kiefer  skate to the quirky It's Oh So Quiet  by Bjork. They don't get as crazy as the music requires and they're slightly out of sync with it too at times. I like the different feature on the low position of the pair spin though. Technically, she doubles out of the triple Salc...

The first final of these tumultuous World Championships belongs to the ice dancers. There doesn't seem to be a doubt in anybody's minds that Papadakis & Cizeron will leave Boston with another gold medal, but what about the other podium places? At the moment, it's the bronze that appears disputed between Chock/Bates and Weaver/Poje, but can the Shibutani siblings hold onto their silver position? Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte 's straight-line lift is one of the most difficult of the season. If they keep improving their difficulty level, maybe next season can be better for them. Their music is La Dolce Vita . Their score: 112.87 . Overall: 182.72 . Lots of drama from Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland . He struggles a bit, but manages to keep the straight-line lift on one leg. Otherwise, everything goes smoothly. Love the choreographic spin at the end, symbolising the butterfly being thrown around by the hurricane. The music is, of course,  Hurricanes and Butterflies  b...

It's all a bit of a mess, really... That's what I said about the ladies' event going into these championships, and I stand by it. But the fact we have so many options for a gold medal who have never won a World title before is also exhilarating. So will the newbies be able to compete against Mao Asada's trained nerves of steel? Angelina Kuchvalska  is not competing for a medal here, but rather for experience and a higher placement than last season. She skates to Tosca , and the purple dress she wears is gorgeous. However, the presentation is lacking drama. Technically, she gets too close to the boards and falls on the triple Toeloop. Her score: 54.78 . We see another purple and sparkles combination, this time won by Gabrielle Daleman . The music is You'll Have to Swing It . The choreography is breathtaking, the last two jumps punctuating the sharpest points in the music. When it works, and this time it does, this approach to the choreography is a showstopper. Sh...

The men's competition has always kept us on the edge of our seats. Each season the World Championships seem more difficult for them, as the number of quads rises and the artistry gets more important. With three men reaching for the gold and at least three others targeting the other two spots on the podium, this season's Worlds won't be any less exciting than the ones before. Let's start with  Misha Ge , who surprised us last season by finishing the Worlds on 6th place. That's very unlikely to happen here. His programme is clean, but he has no quads. Did you know he's one of the few skaters who can change direction during his camel spin? The music is Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 . His score: 77.43 . Adam Rippon  doesn't attempt his famous Quad Lutz, but does land a triple with his arms aloft. The music is Who Wants to Live Forever  by Queen. The crowd gets wild cheering for him. Beautiful spin at the end. He gets 85.72  points. If we didn...

We've been talking about and anticipating the Worlds all season long. Now they're finally here, and they're bound not to disappoint. As it's become custom, the ice dancers are opening the event with their short skate. France's champions are here to defend their world title, with Canada's finest as their main rivals. The US and Italy are also looking to acquire a good spot for the final. Before we get to all that, the UK's Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland  are sharper and more refined than ever. Their routine has a classic set up with two alert sections and a lento in between. Difficult entry into the rotational lift. Their score: 68.23 . Hallelujah  is the strongest short programme of Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue  so far. The presentation is emotional without struggling to appear so, and the music changes pace just in time to avoid monotony. No mistakes here. They get 68.44  points. Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland from Great Britain waltzing to D...

As we prepare for the 2016 World Championships, there seems to be only one question on everyone's minds. It's not about how Boston's first ever Worlds will measure up to the rest, it's not even about the drug scandal which took one of the best ice-dance couples out of the competition. The one and only question seems to be: how do you beat the three world champions going head to head in Boston? The logo of the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships I don't even have to say their names for you to know exactly who I'm talking about. Their rivalry is so famous in the figure skating world, they might as well start calling themselves The Three Rivals of the Ice, or some other cheesy name you're bound to find plastered on some ice show poster. No matter which country you're in, Hanyu, Fernandez and Chan are starring in all the headlines related to this year's World Championships, just as they did last year (even if Chan wasn't even competing) a...