Duhamel, Radford driven to be world champions
The Sochi Olympics — and the fulfilment of a dream that went along with it — in their rearview mirror, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford needed a source of new inspiration this season.
They found it in a string of goals that remained to be checked off, with the list on the verge of being complete after a dominant short program skate Wednesday at the world figure skating championships.
“We’d love to win a Grand Prix or we’d love to win a medal at the Grand Prix Final,” Radford said before a season in which they were golden at every event they entered this season heading to Shanghai.
“We’ve been third at the worlds two times now, so we’d love to stand on the top step of the podium and win a world title.”
At the time Radford spoke, he wasn’t necessarily referring to 2015. But as the gold medals piled up — both their Grand Prix events, the series final in Barcelona in December, a fourth straight Canadian title and a triumph at the Four Continents Championship last month — it became abundantly clear that the world title was eminently attainable now, with the Canadian duo at the height of their powers.
Surely, nobody was doubting any of that Wednesday, with Duhamel and Radford’s prowess on full display in a short program that was technically superior to the rest of the field — and with a free program to come armed with elements such as side- by- side triple lutzes and a quad throw Salchow only they perform in competition.
With a 76.98- point score, the Montreal- based Duhamel and Radford were 4.39 points better in the short than comebacking Chinese Qing Pang and Jian Tong, the two- time former world champions. Another Chinese pair, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han, sat third at 71.63 heading into Thursday’s free skate final.
Duhamel, of Lively, Ont., and Radford, of Balmertown, Ont., skated to the now- familiar strains of Un Peu Plus Haut by famed Quebec singer Ginette Reno.
“As soon as our music starts and we get in that starting position, it brings us back to the familiar feeling of every day at training and every competition that we’ve done,” said Duhamel.
World junior silver medallists Julianne Seguin of Longueuil and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois- Pistoles were 10th after the short in their worlds debut ( 60.53), while Lubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto, also competing in their first worlds, stood 11th ( 60.32).
Meanwhile, in ice dance, Canada’s second hope for gold in Shanghai — Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, of Waterloo, Ont. — posted a seasonbest score of 72.68 for their short dance but trail Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who scored a career- best 74.47 points.
Canada had two other couples in the top eight after the short dance. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto placed seventh ( 65.90), while Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam of Barrie, Ont., who train in Detroit, were eighth ( 64.38).