Katie Ledecky wins freestyle duel with Simone Manuel, takes third in medley

By Beau DureNov 8, 2019, 7:51 PM EST

At the shortest distance Katie Ledecky usually races and a longer distance than Simone Manuel normally attempts, Ledecky took a comfortable victory over her training partner Friday in the 200m freestyle at a TYR Pro Swim Series meet in Greensboro, N.C.

Ledecky took the lead immediately, finishing her first length in 27.34 seconds on her way to a final time of 1:55.58. Manuel finished in 1:57.46, just ahead of four-time Olympic gold medalist Allison Schmitt (1:57.63).

Several swimmers took on races outside their comfort zones. Ledecky finished third in the 400m medley behind Ally McHugh (4:40.09), who won the NCAA 1,650-yard freestyle championship in March, and Hali Flickinger, the 2019 world silver medalist in the 200m butterfly who swam in all three finals Friday.

Ryan Lochte swam in two finals Thursday and again on Friday but was not in the 400m medley, one of his strongest events. He finished third in the 200m backstroke behind South African Olympian Christopher Reid and Jacob Pebley, the bronze medalist in the 200m back in the 2017 world championships.

Luca Urlando, 17, won his second event of the meet, edging Zane Grothe by 0.05 seconds in the 200m freestyle. Urlando finished in 1:48.40.

Isabelle Stadden won the 200m backstroke ahead of Kathleen Baker, a bronze medalist in the event in 2017.

World silver medalist Jay Litherland won the 400m medley in 4:20.09.

Meet results are available here.

WEDNESDAY: Twichell, Grothe win 1,500m

THURSDAY: Manuel wins 100m; Ledecky wins 400m

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Shoma Uno leads Ilia Malinin at figure skating worlds; Japan wins first pairs’ title

By OlympicTalkMar 23, 2023, 9:24 AM EDT

Defending champion Shoma Uno of Japan bettered American Ilia Malinin in the world figure skating championships short program.

Malinin, 18, plans one of, if not the most difficult free skate in history on Saturday in a bid to overtake Uno to become the youngest world champion in 25 years.

Uno, who has reportedly dealt with an ankle injury, skated clean Thursday save doubling the back end of a planned quadruple toe loop-triple toe combination. He totaled 104.63 points, overtaking Malinin by 4.25 on home ice in Saitama.

“I was able to do better jumps compared to my practice in my short program today, and even if I am not in my best condition, I want to focus on other details other than my jumps as well,” Uno said, according to the International Skating Union.

Malinin, who this season landed the first quadruple Axel in competition, had a clean short after struggling with the program all autumn. He landed a quadruple Lutz-triple toe combo, a quad toe and a triple Axel. Uno beat him on artistic component scores.

“I was really in the moment,” said Malinin, who plans a record-tying six quads in Saturday’s free skate after attempting five at previous competitions this season. “I was really feeling my performance out there.”

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Results | Broadcast Schedule

The quad Axel is not allowed in the short program, but expect Malinin to include it in the free, and he likely needs it to beat Uno.

Malinin has been a force in skating, starting with his breakout silver-medal finish at the January 2022 U.S. Championships. He was left off last year’s Olympic team due to his inexperience, then won the world junior title last spring.

He entered these senior worlds ranked second in the field behind Uno, yet outside the top 15 in the world in the short program this season. After a comfortable win at January’s national championships, he can become the youngest men’s world champion since Russian Alexei Yagudin in 1998.

Two-time U.S. Olympian Jason Brown placed sixth with a clean short in his first full international competition since last year’s Olympics.

The third American, Andrew Torgashev, fell on his opening quad toe loop and ended up 22nd in his worlds debut.

Olympic gold medalist Nathan Chen has not skated this season, going back to Yale, and is not expected to return to competition. Silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan has been out with left leg and ankle bone injuries. Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu retired.

Earlier Thursday, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won Japan’s first pairs’ world title, dethroning Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, who last year became the first Americans to win a pairs’ world title since 1979.

2023 World Figure Skating Championships results

By OlympicTalkMar 23, 2023, 7:51 AM EDT

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

Women (Short Program)
1. Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) — 79.24
2. Lee Hae-In (KOR) — 73.62
3. Mai Mihara (JPN) — 73.46
4. Isabeau Levito (USA) — 73.03
5. Loena Hendrickx (BEL) — 71.94
6. Niina Petrokina (EST) — 68.00
7. Nicole Schott (GER) — 67.29
8. Bradie Tennell (USA) — 66.45
9. Ekaterina Kurakova (POL) — 65.69
10. Amber Glenn (USA) — 65.52

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Broadcast Schedule

Men (Short Program)
1. Shoma Uno (JPN) — 104.63
2. Ilia Malinin (USA) — 100.38
3. Cha Jun-Hwan (KOR) — 99.64
4. Keegan Messing (CAN) — 98.75
5. Kevin Aymoz (FRA) — 95.56
6. Jason Brown (USA) — 94.17
7. Kazuki Tomono (JPN) — 92.68
8. Daniel Grassl (ITA) — 86.50
9. Lukas Britschgi (SUI) — 86.18
10. Vladimir Litvintsev (AZE) — 82.71
17. Sota Yamamoto (JPN) — 75.48
22. Andrew Torgashev (USA) — 71.41

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

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