Erin Hamlin wins World Luge Championships sprint title, eyes 2018 retirement

By Nick ZaccardiJan 27, 2017, 2:36 PM EST

In her likely final world luge championships, Erin Hamlin took gold for the second time in her career, eight years after her breakout world title.

Hamlin won the sprint event in Igls, Austria, by .009 of a second over defending champion Martina Kocher of Switzerland, on Friday. The shortened, single-run sprint is not on the Olympic program. The full, two-run race at worlds is Saturday.

“I’m very, very excited that I can kind of prove to myself that I can still compete with the best,” Hamlin said Friday. “To me, the big show is still tomorrow.”

Hamlin became the first U.S. Olympic singles luge medalist in Sochi, taking bronze.

She said Friday that she hopes to make the PyeongChang Winter Games, which would be her fourth Olympics, the last competition of her career.

“That’s kind of a thought, yeah,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, you always say you keep an open mind, but I feel like that would be good timing.”

Hamlin earned an upset gold at the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid, ending a 99-race German win streak in major international competition.

She had some disappointing results in the years following her world title, the first world medal by a U.S. female luger, but has been strong in recent seasons.

She owns two World Cup victories this season and ranks third in the World Cup standings. Hamlin said she’s accomplished more than she could have imagined in the sport and is excited to venture into other opportunities after PyeongChang.

Hamlin has been joined on the World Cup podium in recent seasons by younger teammates Summer Britcher and Emily Sweeney, who may lead the women’s program beyond 2018.

“Definitely feeling a little bit like the old lady around town here,” Hamlin joked. “It’s really fun to be able to see how competitive our team as a whole has gotten, so it pushes me. That’s a huge factor in me still being able to perform at this level, having the young guns keeping me on my toes.”

NBCSN will air world championships coverage Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

MORE: Bobsled, luge skeleton broadcast schedule

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Kaori Sakamoto leads figure skating worlds; U.S. in medal mix in women’s, pairs’ events

By OlympicTalkMar 22, 2023, 9:03 AM EDT

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Defending champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan topped the women’s short program at the world figure skating championships, while Americans are in the medal mix in the women’s and pairs’ events going into the free skates.

Sakamoto, trying to become the first Japanese skater to win back-to-back world titles, tallied 79.24 points, taking a significant 5.62-point lead over South Korean Lee Hae-In going into Friday’s free skate in Saitama, Japan. It’s the largest lead after a women’s short program at worlds since 2015.

“Usually, when I go into my short program, there’s some uncertainties and anxiety,” Sakamoto, who skated clean with a triple flip-triple toe loop combination, said through a translator. “But today I was doing very well in practice, and I wasn’t making any mistakes. So I knew that I could just put everything out there, and that’s exactly what I was able to do.”

U.S. champion Isabeau Levito is in fourth (just 59 hundredths out of second), one year after winning the world junior title. Levito, 16, can become the youngest world medalist since 2014.

“I am really happy with my score,” said Levito, who had a negative grade of execution on her triple Lutz-triple toe combination but still had her best score of the season. “Based on this performance, I’m very excited for the long program.”

Fellow Americans Bradie Tennell and Amber Glenn are eighth and 10th, respectively, about in line with their world rankings. The top two American finishes after the free skate must add up to no more than 13 (sixth and seventh, for example) to avoid dropping down to two spots for next year’s worlds.

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Results | Broadcast Schedule

Earlier, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the pairs’ short program, distancing defending champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier of the U.S., who placed second despite Frazier’s fall on their side-by-side triple toe loops.

Miura and Kihara, the world’s top-ranked pair this season, can become the first Japanese pair to win a world title, a year after taking silver behind Knierim and Frazier.

Knierim and Frazier, who will likely retire after this season, are trying to become the first U.S. pair to win multiple world titles. They’re skating without their primary coaches, Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, who didn’t travel after Sand had a heart attack three weeks ago.

“Todd’s condition is very serious, so it’s difficult to train when you feel broken inside, when your person is not there,” Knierim said. “However, that person is the one that instilled fight in us, so we’re able to work hard every day to make him proud, and I think we did a good job of that today.”

In fourth place are Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps. Stellato-Dudek, the 2000 World junior silver medalist in singles, came out of a 15-year retirement in 2016 and can become, at 39, the oldest world championships medalist in recent memory.

Worlds continue Wednesday night (U.S. time) with the pairs’ free skate, followed Thursday morning with the men’s short program, live on Peacock and USA Network.

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2023 World Figure Skating Championships TV, live stream schedule

By OlympicTalkMar 22, 2023, 8:55 AM EDT

The world figure skating championships from Saitama, Japan, air live on USA Network and Peacock this week.

The U.S. has medal contenders in all four disciplines, one year after winning a medal in all four events for the first time since 1967 (note Russia’s ban, and China sent no skaters).

In the pairs’ event that starts Tuesday night (U.S. time), Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier can become the first U.S. duo to win multiple world titles, one year after becoming the first American pair to take gold since 1979.

They rank second in the world this season behind Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, last year’s silver medalists who look to earn Japan’s first pairs’ world title.

Japan has the world’s top two women’s singles skaters in reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto and Grand Prix Final winner Mai Mihara.

Isabeau Levito, a 16-year-old American who won last year’s world junior title, ranks fourth in the field by best score this season. She can become the youngest world medalist since 2014.

Ilia Malinin, an 18-year-old American who this season became the first skater to land a quadruple Axel, is seeded second in the men’s field behind Shoma Uno, the reigning world champion from Japan.

In ice dance, Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates posted the world’s top score this season at last month’s Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs. After 12 seasons together, their goal is to win their first world title after silver in 2015, bronze in 2016 and bronze in 2022.

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2023 World Figure Skating Championships Broadcast Schedule

Day	Competition	Time (ET)	Network
Tuesday	Pairs’ Short	10 p.m.-2 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
Wednesday	Women’s Short	2:45-8 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
	Women’s Short	6-8 a.m.	USA \| LIVE STREAM \| Peacock
	Pairs’ Free	10 p.m.-2 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
Thursday	Men’s Short	2:45-8 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
	Men’s Short	6-8 a.m.	USA \| LIVE STREAM \| Peacock
	Pairs’ Free	8-10 a.m.*	USA \| STREAM LINK
	Rhythm Dance	10 p.m.-3:30 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM
Friday	Women’s Free	4:15-8:30 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
	Women’s Free	6:30-8:30 a.m.	USA \| LIVE STREAM \| Peacock
	Free Dance	11:30 p.m.-3 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM
Saturday	Men’s Free	4:15-8:30 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM
	Men’s Free	6:30-8:30 a.m.	USA \| LIVE STREAM \| Peacock
	Highlights	8-10 p.m.*	NBC \| STREAM LINK

*Delayed broadcast.

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