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Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) shone in the Pairs Short Program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025 in Boston (USA) and are in position to retake the World title they won in 2023. However, several competitors are close behind them following a high-level event at TD Garden, and the tension remains high for the Free Skating on Thursday. The 20 pairs in the Free Skating will also compete for the 16 quota places available for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.  

Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) paint it gold in the Short Program 

Reigning World silver medalists Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara of Japan were spot on in the Pairs Short Program on Wednesday, taking the lead ahead of Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii of Italy and Germany’s Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin. Defending ISU World Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) are in seventh place. 

Miura/Kihara were in top form in their Short Program to “Paint It Black”, completing their difficult elements with ease. The 2025 ISU Four Continents Champions impressed with their triple twist, throw triple flip and lift in their dynamic performance. Only the triple toe was a little under-rotated. 
 

Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) will take a 1.96-point lead into Thursday's Free Skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships © ISU

The Japanese Champions came close to their season's best with 76.57 points.

“We have been continuously building on this program all season, and I feel we were the most confident today we’ve been so far,” Miura said. “We were able to avoid any major mistakes, and got close to a season’s best, so we were really happy about that. We enjoyed ourselves, but stayed calm as well.” 

Kihara agreed.

“Well, this might not have been our best performance, but this season has been very hard for us to enjoy ourselves and perform at the same time, so we're really happy today that we were able to perform well while having a good time.” 

Conti/Macii skated last of 23 teams, and ended an exciting competition on a high note with their passionate “Carmen” program. It included a triple twist, triple Salchow and throw triple loop. 

Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii (ITA) just missed a personal best in the Pairs Short Program Wednesday at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships © ISU

The 2023 ISU World bronze medalists almost equaled their personal best with a score of 74.67 points. 

“We are very happy and proud of each other to do this program,” Conti said. “Today, the tension was so high my legs were literally stiff, but I'm super happy to enjoy the moment, the audience, because it's incredible, and to go out of the ice rink with a smile.” 

Hase/Volodin entertained the crowd with their bluesy program to “You Were Mine”, landing a triple twist, a side by side triple Salchow and a throw triple loop. The ISU European Champions scored 73.59 points.

Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) are third after the Short Program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Boston © ISU

“It was not a 100 per cent performance today, but we're still happy that we kept it together to the end and still showed a good performance,” Hase said. “In practice, we did a better run through, so we hoped to achieve that one today. It was not the case, but still I think we can be happy with our last Short Program of the season and say goodbye to that program.”

The competition is far from over, with two-time ISU World Junior Champions Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (GEO) close to the podium after another strong performance on 71.68 points. To the delight of the home crowd, ISU Grand Prix Finalists Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea (USA) finished fifth on 68.61 points, while Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) were sixth with a season's best score of 67.45 points. 

ISU World Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) made a few small errors on the triple twist and side by side spin that were costly at this level where each point counts. The Canadians received 67.32 points, and can still fight for the podium in the Free Skating.
 

Reigning World Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) are seventh after the Short Program © ISU

“We had some uncharacteristic mistakes, but I thought we fought and still had a good time. Hopefully we can do better tomorrow,” Stellato-Dudek said. 

Deschamps is also optimistic.

“Tomorrow we're just going to go out there and do our best and whatever happens, happens. That's what we did at Four Continents and that's what we'll do here.” 

Remembrance moment 

While celebrating the sport of Figure Skating, the community does not forget those who were lost. At the start of the Championships, the ISU — together with US Figure Skating and the Skating Club of Boston — will remember and honor the victims of the aviation tragedy of January 29 where 28 young athletes, parents and coaches lost their lives. This “Remembrance moment” took place on Wednesday, March 26th, at 18:15 p.m. (local Boston time). 

Road to Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games

The 2025 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Boston will serve as the primary qualification event for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. The first quota places will be allocated during the World Championships in Boston and the remaining ones at the Olympic Qualifying competition in Beijing (CHN) from September 17-21, 2025 (read more here). 

What and when 

The schedule of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025 is as follows:

Wednesday, March 26:  Women’s & Pairs Short Programs
Thursday, March 27:  Men’s Short Program & Pairs Free Skating
Friday, March, 28:  Rhythm Dance & Women’s Free Skating
Saturday, March 29:  Free Dance & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, March 30:  Exhibition Gala & ISU Figure Skating Awards

A total of 190 Skaters representing 42 countries have been entered for the Championships: 39 Men, 33 Women, 23 Pairs and 36 Ice Dance couples. Boston hosts the ISU World Championships for the second time after 2016 and this the 14^th time that the USA are hosting the event.

For more information, full entry lists and results, visit the ISU event page of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025 and the official event website of the Championships. Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldFigure and #FigureSkating.

Where to watch the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2025:

The ISU World Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news. 

Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.