SYNCHRONIZED SKATING
Canadians reign Suprêmes once more at ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships
01 Apr 2023
Les Suprêmes of Canada retained their title at the ISU World Synchronized Championships in what was an exciting and close competition. Finland’s Helsinki Rockettes were a little over a point behind to claim silver while Team Unique, also from Finland, returned to the World stage in style with a bronze medal.
Overnight leaders Les Suprêmes had chosen “Madame Butterfly” as their theme and used music from Giacomo Puccini’s opera as well as modern pieces by Apashe, Tommee Profitt and Karl Hugo to create their story on the ice.
Inspired by Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Les Suprêmes (CAN) set a season's best to seal gold at the ISU World Synchronised Skating Championships. @ISU
“Our Free Program this season is Madame Butterfly, so we took the classical story of Madame Butterfly and we decided to change the ending so that she really fights for herself and her happiness and thrives at the end,” Team Captain Olivia Di Giandomenico explained.
The Candians showed a high class of skating, collecting a level four for the pivoting block, group lift, move element, synchronized spin and pair element while the intersections were rated a level three and four. The team set a season's best of 161.98 points for the Free Skating to accumulate 240.98 points overall.
Les Suprêmes became the fourth team to successfully defend the World title in the competition's 23-year history. @ISU
“It’s an honor to be on the podium today, we’ve been working super hard all season and improving our programs after every competition. It’s a great reward after a long season,” Team Captain Julia Bernardo commented.
“We’re going to take some time to relax and then in a few weeks we are going to head into our new season. We’ll have some summer training camps and hope to work towards the next World Championships,” she continued.
The Helsinki Rockettes had come to Lake Placid with the highest ambitions. At the ISU World Synchronized Championships a year ago, the Finns had led in the Short Program before slippping to third in the Free Skating.
Standing in second place following the Short Program this time, the team from the Finnish capital went all out in their Free Skating set to the theme “Requiem” featuring elements from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final work as well as music by Apashe and Karl Hugo.
The Helsinki Rockettes (FIN) finished third in the Free Skate but retained second place overall to improve on last year's bronze medal. @ISU
The 2023 ISU World bronze medalists produced seven level-four elements in high quality. However, a fall right after the creative lift cost them one point and they ranked third in the Free Skating segment at 160.95 points. Overall they remained in second place at 239.56 points.
“It feels amazing, it’s an honor. We have worked hard and it’s a great achievement to be on the podium,” Captain Petra Viitanen commented.
Team Captain Milja Suila described their program as “very strong and spiritual.”
Ten years after winning the World title, Team Unique returned to the podium with an excellent performance to “Voila” by Barbara Pravi and “Victoria Station” and “Vendetta March” by Shigeru Umebayashi.
The Finns, who last competed at the World Championships in 2018, finishing fourth, earned a level four for seven elements including the No Hold Element and Intersection to post a season best of 161.55 points. They placed second in the Free Skating and third overall at 237.68 points.
Team Unique (FIN) returned to the podium 10 years after their World title triumph with a strong performance in the Free Skate. @ISU
“We are also very happy. It’s been such a nice journey this whole season. And we had almost a whole team of newcomers for worlds this season,” Team Captain Tullia Niituinperä said.
Team captain Jenni Puhakka added: “We wanted to really use our strength, which is our artistry and our full body movements.”
Nexxice (CAN) came fourth with a Free Skating to “El Mar Mediterrani” by Ryuichi Sakamoto on 228.08 points.
The Haydenettes (USA) moved up one place to fifth with 218.32 points, overtaking Team Miami University (USA) who finished sixth on 209.94 points.
A total of 23 teams with 535 Skaters representing 19 ISU Members competed in this 22nd edition of the event that started in 2000.
Originally called Precision Skating, Synchronized Skating was introduced in the 1950s. It is a highly technical form of Figure Skating characterized by speed, precisions, unison, intricate formations, synchro elements, difficult footwork, spectacular lifts and exciting transitions. A synchronized team consists of 16 skaters (plus up to four alternates).
The USA hosts the event for the fifth time. Lake Placid was allocated the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in 2020, but the event was cancelled (and as well in 2021) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the IOC recommendation and in order to protect the integrity of ice skating competitions and for the safety of all the participants of international ice skating competitions, the ISU Council based on Article 17.1.q)i) of the ISU Constitution, agreed that with immediate effect and until further notice, no Skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) shall be invited or allowed to participate in International ice skating competitions including ISU Championships and other ISU Events. The same applies to Officials listed in the respective ISU Communications and/or Regulations under Russia and Belarus (see ISU Communication 2469).
Schedule of the event
The schedule of the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships is as follows:
Friday, March 31: Short Program
Saturday, April 1: Free Skating
For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official event website.
Where to watch the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2023:
The ISU World Synchronized 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 on the Where to Watch webpage here.
Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.
Follow the event on social media using the hashtag: #WorldSynchro.
