Sometimes in sport, momentum means nothing.
So was the case in the pairs portion of the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan, over the last few days as two teams left the competition with very different feelings than they came in with.
It was elation for Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, the pair having entered into Worlds after what was considered to be a markedly disappointing Olympic effort, in which they placed third.
But here the veterans were on their game in both programs, Thursday morning finishing off what they had started by capturing their fifth World Championship gold medal with a steely performance to “The Nutcracker” (a follow up to their eye-catching “Pink Panther” short), the same routine that they faltered on in Sochi.
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It was a feeling of disappointment for Russians Ksenia Stolbova and Fyodor Klimov, however. After placing second at the Olympic Games last month, the pair came into Worlds with the opportunity to take hold of the mantle held by compatriots (and Olympic gold medalists) Tatyana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov.
But it was not to be for the 22 and 23-year-old, Stolbova barely holding onto a landing in their opening triple flip throw and the pair looking shaky throughout their “Addams Family” free skate.
Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Canadians who had placed a disappointing seventh in Sochi, shook off their bad fortune for a second straight World Championship bronze.
It was the opposite for Americans Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, the two-time U.S. champions having continuously gotten better through four programs (two team, two individual) at the Olympics only to come out flat in Saitama. Ninth in Sochi, the pair was 11th here and clearly disappointed with the result.
The other American pair, Felicia Zhang and Nathan Bartholomay, were 14th overall.
“This is a disappointment for us,” Shnapir said in a statement via U.S. Figure Skating. “This obviously was not representative of what we do at home. It is frustrating especially [after] how Nationals and the Olympics went. It’s a tough way to end the season.”
It is a bittersweet gold for Savchenko/Szolkowy, who at 30 and 34, respectively, may have missed their window to win an Olympic gold. Their five World Championship titles have bookended the 2010 and 2014 Games: 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014. They won bronze in both Vancouver and Sochi.
“Being world champion feels really great,” Szolkowy told the crowd after their win, a first since 2012. “It was a pleasure for us to skate here in our last competition of the season.”
Castelli/Shnapir were again flat on the ice in their free skate, Castelli falling hard on the team’s attempt of the quadruple Salchow throw, an element that Castelli held on to in both programs at the Olympics.
Castelli/Shnapir were 13th a year ago at Worlds. No U.S. pair has finished inside the top five at the World Championships since Rena Inoue and John Baldwin were fourth in 2006.
Final results - Pairs
1. Aliona SAVCHENKO/Robin SZOLKOWY GER 224.88
2. Ksenia STOLBOVA/Fedor KLIMOV RUS 215.92
3. Meagan DUHAMEL/Eric RADFORD CAN 210.84
4. Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS/Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 205.55
5. Cheng PENG/Hao ZHANG CHN 194.83
6. Wenjing SUI/Cong HAN CHN 192.10
7. Vera BAZAROVA/Yuri LARIONOV RUS 189.44
8. Julia ANTIPOVA/Nodari MAISURADZE RUS
11. Marissa CASTELLI/Simon SHNAPIR USA 170.90
14. Felicia ZHANG/Nathan BARTHOLOMAY USA 151.78