NBC Sports to air every IPC World Sled Hockey Championship game

By Nick ZaccardiApr 15, 2015, 6:50 PM EDT

NBC Sports Live Extra will stream every game of the IPC Sled Hockey World Championship in Buffalo, N.Y., from April 26-May 3.

The tournament final will also air live on NBCSN on May 3 at 2:30 p.m. ET, capping an unprecedented 40 hours of coverage across NBC Sports platforms.

The U.S. captured the Sochi Paralympic gold medal in a 1-0 win over host Russia in the final. The U.S. and Russia will face off in preliminary play on the first day of the tournament.

But the Americans will be out to reclaim the World title, having lost to Canada in the 2013 Worlds final.

This will mark the third time the U.S. hosts the World Championship in eight editions. The U.S. did not win gold on home ice the previous two times in 2000 and 2008, seeing rival Canada prevail.

“The sport has gained huge popularity in the U.S. and worldwide in the last 12 months, and this agreement shows that major broadcasters are continuing to recognize the value and demand for para-sport, as well as representing a fantastic opportunity for new partners for Buffalo 2015,” said Xavier Gonzalez, IPC Chief Executive Officer.

NBCSN will broadcast up to three U.S. games, beginning April 29 against Italy at 10:30 p.m. ET. It will also broadcast a semifinal in addition to the live final.

The NBCSN commentary team will include Marc Zumoff on play-by-play, Sochi Paralympic gold medalist Andy Yohe and 1998 U.S. Olympic hockey gold medalist A.J. Mleczko.

The Live Extra commentary team will include three-time U.S. Paralympic hockey player Taylor Lipsett and former Canadian hockey player and coach Brent Pope.

“We are thrilled to continue to work closely with the IPC to bring Paralympic sport to the U.S. audience,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics, and President, Operations & Strategy, NBC Sports Group. “Team USA’s victory over Russia in the gold-medal final was one of the great stories of the Sochi Paralympic Games, and we’re excited to showcase sled hockey to a national audience once again.”

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Date	Coverage	Network	Time (ET)
Sun., April 26	Preliminary Group A – Norway vs. Czech Republic	NBC Sports Live Extra	9:30 a.m.
	Preliminary Group A – Japan vs. Canada	NBC Sports Live Extra	1 p.m.
	Preliminary Group B – Germany vs. Italy	NBC Sports Live Extra	4:30 p.m.
	Preliminary Group B – Russia vs. Team USA	NBC Sports Live Extra	8 p.m.
Mon., April 27	Preliminary Group A – Japan vs. Czech Republic	NBC Sports Live Extra	9:30 a.m.
	Preliminary Group A – Norway vs. Canada	NBC Sports Live Extra	1 p.m.
	Preliminary Group B – Italy vs. Russia	NBC Sports Live Extra	4:30 p.m.
	Preliminary Group B – Germany vs. Team USA	NBC Sports Live Extra	8 p.m.
Wed., April 29	Preliminary Group B – Germany vs. Russia	NBC Sports Live Extra	10:30 a.m.
	Preliminary Group B – Italy vs. Team USA	NBC Sports Live Extra	2 p.m.
	Preliminary Group A – Czech Republic vs. Canada	NBC Sports Live Extra	5:30 p.m.
	Preliminary Group A – Japan vs. Norway	NBC Sports Live Extra	9 p.m.
	Preliminary Group B – Italy vs. Team USA *	NBCSN	10:30 p.m.
Thur., April 30	Qualifying Round – TBA	NBC Sports Live Extra	4:30 p.m.
	Qualifying Round – TBA	NBC Sports Live Extra	8 p.m.
Fri., May 1	Semifinal Round – TBA	NBC Sports Live Extra	4:30 p.m.
	Semifinal Round – TBA	NBC Sports Live Extra	8 p.m.
	Semifinal Round – TBA*	NBCSN	10:30 p.m.
Sat., May 2	Qualifying Round – TBA	NBC Sports Live Extra	4:30 p.m.
	Qualifying Round – TBA	NBC Sports Live Extra	8 p.m.
Sun., May 3	Bronze Medal Game	NBC Sports Live Extra	11 a.m.
	Gold Medal Game	NBCSN	2:30 p.m.

*denotes same-day delay

Shoma Uno repeats as world figure skating champion; Ilia Malinin tries 6 quads for bronze

By OlympicTalkMar 25, 2023, 10:47 AM EDT

Japan’s Shoma Uno repeated as world figure skating champion, performing the total package of jumps and artistry immediately after 18-year-old American Ilia Malinin attempted a record-tying six quadruple jumps in his free skate to earn the bronze medal.

Uno, 25 and the leader after Thursday’s short program, prevailed with five quad attempts (one under-rotated) in Saturday’s free skate.

He finished, fell backward and lay on home ice in Saitama, soaking in a standing ovation amid a sea of Japanese flags. Japan won three of the four gold medals this week, and Uno capped it off with guts coming off a reported ankle injury.

He is the face of Japanese men’s skating after two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu retired in July and Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama missed most of this season with leg and ankle injuries.

“There were many shaky jumps today, but I’m happy I was able to get a good result despite not being in a good condition these past two weeks,” Uno said, according to the International Skating Union (ISU). “I know I caused a lot of concerns to everyone around me, but I was able to pay them back and show my gratitude with my performance today.”

Silver medalist Cha Jun-Hwan became the first South Korean man to win a world championships medal. Cha, a 21-year-old who was fifth at the Olympics, had to change out broken skate boots before traveling to Japan, one year after withdrawing from worlds after a 17th-place short program, citing a broken skate boot.

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Results

Malinin, ninth in his senior worlds debut last year, planned the most difficult program of jumps in figure skating history — six quads, including a quad Axel. Malinin is the only person to land a quad Axel in competition and did so again Saturday. He still finished 12.7 points behind Uno and 7.59 behind Cha.

Malinin had the top technical score (jumps, spins, step sequences) in both programs, despite an under-rotation and two other negatively graded jumps among his seven jumping passes in the free skate.

His nemesis was the artistic score, placing 10th and 11th in that category in the two programs (18.44 points behind Uno). Unsurprising for the only teen in the top 13, who is still working on that facet of his skating, much like a young Nathan Chen several years ago.

“After doing a lot of these jumps — hard, difficult jumps — it’s really hard to try to perform for the audience,” said Malinin, who entered worlds ranked second in the field by best score this season behind Uno.

Chen, who is unlikely to compete again after winning last year’s Olympics, remains the lone skater to land six fully rotated quads in one program (though not all clean). Malinin became the youngest U.S. male singles skater to win a world medal since Scott Allen in 1965. He was proud of his performance, upping the ante after previously trying five quads in free skates this season, but afterward weighed whether the risk was worth it.

“Sometimes going for the risk, you get really good rewards, but I think that maybe sometimes it’s OK to lower the risks and try not to take as much risk and go for a lot cleaner skate,” he said. “I think that’ll be beneficial to do next season is to lower the standards a bit.”

Malinin was followed by Frenchman Kévin Aymoz, who before the pandemic was the world’s third-ranked skater behind Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu, then placed ninth, 11th and 12th at the last three global championships.

Jason Brown, a two-time U.S. Olympian, was fifth in his first international competition since last year’s Olympics. He was the lone man in the top 15 to not attempt a quad, a testament to his incredible artistic skills for which he received the most points between the two programs.

“I didn’t think at the beginning of the year that I even would be competing this year, so I’m really touched to be here,” the 28-year-old said, according to the ISU. “I still want to keep going [competing] a little longer, but we’ll see. I won’t do promises.”

Earlier Saturday, Madison Chock and Evan Bates became the oldest couple to win an ice dance world title and the second set of Americans to do so. More on that here.

World championships highlights air Saturday from 8-10 p.m. ET on NBC, NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app.

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2023 World Figure Skating Championships results

By OlympicTalkMar 25, 2023, 8:25 AM EDT

2023 World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan, top 10 and notable results …

Women
Gold: Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) — 224.61
Silver: Lee Hae-In (KOR) — 220.94
Bronze: Loena Hendrickx (BEL) — 210.42
4. Isabeau Levito (USA) — 207.65
5. Mai Mihara (JPN) — 205.70
6. Kim Chae-Yeon (KOR) — 203.51
7. Nicole Schott (GER) — 197.76
8. Kimmy Repond (SUI) — 194.09
9. Niina Petrokina (EST) — 193.49
10. Rinka Watanabe (JPN) — 192.81
12. Amber Glenn (USA) — 188.33
15. Bradie Tennell (USA) — 184.14

Men
Gold: Shoma Uno (JPN) — 301.14
Silver: Cha Jun-Hwan (KOR) — 296.03
Bronze: Ilia Malinin (USA) — 288.44
4. Kevin Aymoz (FRA) — 282.97
5. Jason Brown (USA) — 280.04
6. Kazuki Tomono (JPN) — 273.41
7. Keegan Messing (CAN) — 265.16
8. Lukas Britschgi (SUI) — 257.34
9. Matteo Rizzo (ITA) — 256.04
10. Adam Siao Him Fa (FRA) — 253.11
15. Sota Yamamoto (JPN) — 232.39
21. Andrew Torgashev (USA) — 210.59

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Broadcast Schedule

Pairs
Gold: Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) — 222.16
Silver: Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier (USA) — 217.48
Bronze: Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii (ITA) — 208.08
4. Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) — 199.97
5. Emily Chan/Spencer Howe (USA) — 194.73
6. Lia Pereira/Trennt Michaud (CAN) — 193.00
7. Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) — 190.67
8. Anastasia Golubova/Hektor Giotopoulos Moore (AUS) — 189.47
9. Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel (GER) — 184.60
10. Alisa Efimova/Ruben Blommaert (GER) — 184.46
12. Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea (USA) — 175.59

Ice Dance
Gold: Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) — 226.01
Silver: Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITA) — 219.85
Bronze: Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN) — 217.88
4. Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR) — 214.73
5. Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Soerensen (CAN) — 214.04
6. Caroline Green/Michael Parsons (USA) — 201.44
7. Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU) — 199.20
8. Natalie Taschlerova/Filip Taschler (CZE) — 196.39
9. Juulia Turkkila/Matthias Versluis (FIN) — 193.54
10. Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko (USA) — 190.10
11. Kana Muramoto/Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) — 188.87

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