Duhamel, Radford back on top of world
Canadian duo regains focus, glides to second straight gold medal in pairs skating
BOSTON — She didn’t need the Canadian flags waving throughout the TD Garden, nor did the standing ovation from the near sellout crowd confirm what Meagan Duhamel already knew in her heart.
When Duhamel and partner Eric Radford completed their stunning free skate routine Saturday, the pair barely needed to wait for the marks to recognize that a second consecutive world figure skating championship gold was in the bag.
“I knew we had done enough,” a beaming Duhamel said after an elaborate free skate filled with technical jumps was magnificently executed. “The audience was going crazy, I could hear our coaches at the boards screaming along, it just got me going, I was so excited.
“We tried to not focus on not being perfect, but on being comfortable. We said this is our moment and this is our opportunity.”
They seized both the moment and the opportunity to repeat the title they won last year in Shanghai and did so in brilliant fashion. The performance also ensured Canada’s lone medal at these championships would be gold.
In many ways, the difficult work had been done a day earlier when the Canadians finished second in the short program to Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China. The long program is their forte, a chance for their superior jumps and artistic execution to shine.
Emotional at the quietest of times, Duhamel was ready to burst as she was raised above Radford’s head for the final lift. By that point, the heavy lifting — literally and figuratively — had been completed.
“It’s been frustration after frustration after frustration for us this season,” Duhamel, of Lively, Ont., said of a campaign that had the pair looking like anything but candidates to repeat as world champs. “You work so hard and that frustration hurts you so deeply. It just feels so good when it all comes together.
“I can’t keep anything inside of me. I was waiting for him to put up that last lift because I was going to explode.”
Skating to Adele’s Hometown Glory, Radford and Duhamel recorded a personal-best score of 1:53.81 for a two-day total of 231.99.
After successfully landing a sideby-side triple Lutz, the Canadians could relax and build in confidence as the program unfolded. The show-stopping throw quad Salchow brought the enthusiastic Garden crowd along for the ride.
“(The first jump) definitely sets the tone for us and a sense of comfort,” said Radford, of Balmertown, Ont.
The Chinese pair captured silver and five-time world champ Aliona Savchenko of Germany, skating with partner Bruno Massot for the first time in the event, won bronze.
Overall, it was a redemptive performance for Duhamel and Radford, who were admittedly lost in the months after winning gold last year. Motivation was an issue and soon reflected in their performance.
But in the month leading to Beantown, the pair rekindled their enthusiasm and competitive spirit.
“Besides making our goals clear to ourselves, it was holding ourselves to a higher standard every single day,” Radford said. “I think we got a little bit lazy in how we trained day in and day out.”
Added Duhamel: “It was after (the Canadian championships in January in Halifax) where we said, ‘If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right.’ We started training with more energy and we started performing the long program at nine o’clock in the morning and training like we were at the world championships.”