Well that was exciting!
Skating eleventh in a field of 21 teams, RUS1 managed to hold on to win the short program at the World Synchronized Skating Championships in Sweden today, even after all top nine teams skated clean. Yes — RUS1, who has exactly zero World Championship medals (save for one “small” silver from 2007 where they placed second in the short before falling to eighth in the free), and finished seventh in 2011, currently leads a field that includes all the medalists from nearly every World Championship, ever. Only three former medal-winners aren’t competing in Gothenburg: Miami University (USA), Team Unique (FIN), and now-defunct black ice (CAN). (more…)