The 2024 World Figure Skating Championships took place in Montreal, Quebec this past weekend. There were three historical performances. Let’s take a look at what figure skating fans had the opportunity to see.
Ilia Malinin posts highest men’s singles score free skate ever
On Saturday night in the men’s long program, Ilia Malinin of the United States set the record for the best free skate score ever in an international men’s figure skating competition. He posted a score of 227.79 points in winning gold, which broke the record previously set by Nathan Chen of the United States. Chen had a score of 224.92 points in the free skate at the 2019 International Skating Union Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy. Malinin is only 19 years of age, and should be the face of figure skating at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Kaori Sakamoto wins third straight gold medal in Ladies Singles
Kaori Sakamoto of Japan won her third straight gold medal in women’s singles on Friday with a score of 222.96 points. Sakamoto previously won in 2022 in Montpellier, France and in 2023 in Saitama, Japan. Sakamoto is the first figure skater to win three straight Women’s Figure Skating Singles gold medals since Peggy Fleming of the United States won three straight years from 1966 to 1968. The other ladies figure skaters who have won the world championship three straight years or more are Lily Kronberger of Hungary (four straight years from 1908 to 1911), Opika von Meray Horvath of Hungary (three straight years from 1912 to 1914), Herma Szabo of Austria (five straight years from 1922 to 1926), Sonja Henie of Norway (a remarkable 10 straight years from 1927 to 1936), Carol Heiss of the United States (five straight years from 1956 to 1960), and Sjoukje Dijkstra of the Netherlands (three straight years from 1962 to 1964).
Deanna Stellato-Dudek becomes oldest female world champion ever
In the pairs event on Thursday, Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Canada became the oldest female to win a gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships. At age 40, she teamed up with Maxime Deschamps. The previous oldest female figure skater was Ludowika Jakobsson of Finland, who won the gold medal in the pairs event with husband Walter Jakobsson at the age of 38 at the 1923 World Figure Skating Championships in Oslo. Ironically, Walter Jakobsson is the oldest world figure skating champion ever at age 41.
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