Team USA displayed strong free skates to close the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2019 in Helsinki. Both teams finished in the top 10 in front of a sold-out audience.
The Haydenettes finished fifth in the free skate, moving up from the seventh to the sixth spot overall. In their Greatest Showman-themed performance, the Massachusetts-based team scored 138.57 points and collected Level 4 marks on their twizzle element, pair element and group lift. The reigning U.S. champions registered 216.54 total points to finish sixth overall, improving on their seventh-place finish at Worlds last season.
“Tonight’s skate was even better than it was at U.S. Championships,” head coach Saga Krantz said. “It was World-level performance. I was really hoping that we could deliver something that was ‘WOW’ and we did that today.”
“We felt amazing,” team member Sarah Checkosky said. “The crowd was really into it even more so than yesterday. I think right when we hit our ending pose, we knew that we hit everything we wanted to. We are really happy with it.”
The Skyliners placed seventh in the free skate and eighth overall. With Level 4s on their group lift, pair element and twizzle element, the team scored 127.83 points in their Turnadot-themed free skate. Their 204.06 total score secured the eighth spot, besting their ninth-place finish last season in their Worlds debut.
“Tonight, we felt like it was the best they could have done we were extremely happy to end the season with that skate,” Josh Babb, coach of the Skyliners, said. “I was most impressed with how calm and collected they were tonight. They handled that audience really well.”
Russia’s Paradise captured the title with 234.38 points, followed by the2018 World champions, Marigold Ice Unity winning the silver medal (228.70) and Helsinki Rockettes taking bronze (228.61), both from Finland.
Watch the competition on-demand on the Figure Skating Pass on NBC Sports Gold and catch the latest competition recaps on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
Full Results
