by Anne Calder

The 2025 World Figure Skating Championships were held from March 26–30, 2025, at the TD Garden in Boston, USA. The competition determined the entry quotas for each skating federation at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games and the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, CZE.

Thirty six dance teams representing twenty-seven countries competed in the Rhythm Dance. The twenty highest scoring couples qualified for the Free Dance. Small medals were awarded at the Rhythm Dance Press Conference to the three teams that achieved the highest scores.

Official practice began on Tuesday. All the athletes had one session of practice at TD Garden. The dancers began at 6:00 a.m. That evening a second session was skated at the Steriti Ice Arena. Last year in Montreal, practice was held on Monday and Tuesday allowing the athletes two practice sessions on the official arena ice.

Steriti Ice Arena was only a short walk from the main venue. However, ticket holders were not allowed inside the Arena, but could watch through the windows or elsewhere on the provided live streaming.

Late Friday morning the Rhythm Dance began on the NHL sized TD Garden ice. Skaters who train in Europe are more accustomed to the larger Olympic sized rink.* Some came to North America early to prepare for the adjustment.

Introductions of teams and countries received thunderous applause from the packed TD Garden audience, reminiscent of a rock concert atmosphere. For the next five and a half hours, music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s blasted across the venue while thirty six ice dance teams twizzled their interpretations.

Two falls during the Rhythm Dance flipped the qualifying order twice. On the final roster, team 20, Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Versluis (FIN) scored 68.09 and team 21, Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU) scored 68.08. A 0.01 difference in the scores determined the qualifying team.

At the end of the Rhythm Dance, Madison Chock & Evan Bates (USA), Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (CAN), Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (GBR) stood atop the leader board. Each team was awarded small medals at the press conference.

Chock & Bates (USA) scored a season best 90.18 for their Journey Through the Decades tribute to the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s music and dances. The team began at Skate America with eleven songs and whittled it down during the season to seven at Four Continents in February and six in Boston with the removal of YMCA. The songs included Hawaii 5-0, Let’s Twist Again, and Rock Around the Clock all by Jive Bunny, Stayin Alive by Bee Gees, Blame it on the Boogie by The Jacksons, and ending with Last Dance by Boston native Donna Summer.

“I think we’ve evolved the program quite a lot this season – tinkering with the music, tinkering with the steps and just really getting it to a place where we feel free and feel the joy of each style of dance,” Chock noted.

Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (CAN) danced their Barbie themed program to Beach Boys selections and scored an 86.44.

“We had such a great time out there. We really remembered the performance we had here nine years ago and just wanted to channel that a bit, channel the younger Piper and Paul,” Gilles said. “We took every element one step at a time and let the crowd give us the energy.”

Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson (GBR) earned an 83.66 score for their “Le Freak” and “Superstition” program.

“I’m so happy,” Fear said. “This is the skate we have been waiting for all season. We really put in the work after Europeans. What we have been training for really showed up under pressure. That’s what we wanted – our goal, so we are very excited.”

Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri (ITA), the reigning World bronze medalists finished narrowly behind in fourth place with an 83.04 score.

“I am curious to to watch our program from the outside because while we didn’t feel it was absolutely perfect, we did not expect to get those low levels,” Guignard said. “Fourth place was not what we were expecting. We are a bit disappointed that the last time we presented this program we didn’t do it in the way we can.”

Of note, TD Garden has an NHL rink is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide versus an Olympic rink which is 200 feet long by 100 feet wide. European teams are more accustomed to training on the larger rink.

Athletes shared a few thoughts about their Rhythm Dance performance.

Samantha Ritter & Daniel Brykalov (AZE) The duo felt the crowd’s positive energy helped calm any nerves they had opening the event. The team earned a season best score. Brykalov shared his emotions about the end of their season.

“Honestly it’s a little sad. It’s been a long journey to get here. I don’t usually feel sad at the end, but stepping off the ice today I really didn’t want to go. I put so much work into this year that it’s sad to finally close that book. You [look back] and see all the hours on the ice. We did our first run- through almost a year ago.”

Junfei Ren & Jianing Xing (CHN) who partnered only one year ago were happy with their skate.

“Our first time at the World Championships was amazing. I really enjoy it, so much energy. I love it,” Ren said.

Zoe Larson & Andrii Kapran (UKR) have been skating together since February 2022 and train in Estero, FLA. They found the energetic crowd, especially the presence of Ukrainian flags, very supportive. Larson spoke about their World Championships debut Rhythm Dance to Sweet Charity: “Rich Man’s Frug” and “Walkin Bass”.

“As excited as you are to get new programs, it’s definitely sad to leave this one for me. I feel it’s very quirky and really fun to do. It was something different than I’ve ever done before. But it’s nice to move on and take another step.”

Angelina Kudryavtseva & Ilia Karankevich (CYP) missed last season when Kudryavtseva had a broken leg. During the warm-up she felt nervous and scared, but realized the ice was her home, and she should not be afraid.

Karankevich spoke about their Championship debut. “It was stressful a little bit, but also very exciting. There is excitement everywhere – the audience and the competitors. It’s just a big step forward for us, and we’ll keep working,”

Diana Davis & Gleb Smolkin (GEO) explained the process of choosing their “Lady Marmalade” music.

“We originally chose Led Zeppelin. Our coach said it was too short for the RD. There were not many options left. In Montreal, it is a rule you can’t repeat the same music twice. Coaches wanted something elegant, very esthetic and fun at the same time. Diana loved their choice because it was powerful and romantic, We all agreed.”

Sofia Dovhal & Wiktor Kulesza (POL) faced challenges, but experienced growth as they transitioned from juniors to seniors mid-season. Dovhal explained the journey between the levels.

“We did two Junior Grand Prix events early, so the Rhythm Dance was made for juniors. In the middle of the season we changed it for seniors. We made changes to make it better and for it to grow.We can’t wait for next season to be fully senior.”

Elizabeth Tkachenko & Alexei Kiliakov (ISR) made their World Championships debut in Boston. They spoke about the music choice (“Salutation” by Adriano Celentano, “Rumore” by Raffaella Carrà, “Amore No” by Adriano Celentano).

“I think it’s very unique,” Tkachenko noted. “We decided to go with an Italian 50’s and 60’s instead of the American and British.”

Kiliakov added, “We just tried to mix it up. I like the party atmosphere invoked by the music.”

Victoria Manni & Carlo Roethlisberger (ITA) shared their thoughts on the audience reaction to the skating.

“We don’t enjoy the NHL rinks so much because we don’t have them, so it’s hard. In America and Canada, you always have the public very, very close to the rink. For us skaters, it really warms your heart when you skate. Also you don’t have the clapping and cheering everywhere in the world. It was special.”

Olivia Smart & Tim Dieck (ESP) earned a personal best Rhythm Dance score of 77.21.

“It was really fun today in front of an amazing crowd, especially the moment before the Choreo Sequence. Seeing the crowd clapping I wanted to go again,” Dieck said.

“We both knew coming into an American crowd that maybe a Janis Joplin program would get a little more love,” Smart added.

Maria Sofia Pucherova & Nikita Lysak (SVK) loved their sightseeing adventures, including Pucherova’s first visit to the ocean.

“We were in Boston for the first time. The city is beautiful. We were sightseeing. We were at the boat where there were tea bags pouring down. We also went to the Cafe of Liberty, which is a former jail and is made into a cafeteria.”

Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko (USA) commented on their personal best 81.51 score.

“We’ve never broken 80 points!.”Ponomarenko exclaimed. “It was amazing to do it at home. It’s a dream come true.”

Gina Zehnder & Beda Leon Sieber (SUI) competed at their second World Championships – Montreal and Boston. The team spoke about preparing for the North American rink size.

“The rink is more narrow – four meters less. We’ve been practicing at our home rink with cones blocking it off. The people are right next to the board. It’s an experience itself, but it Is fun! It’s different.”

Katarina Del Camp & Berk Akalin (TUR) spent hours watching Chuck Berry while preparing for their Rhythm Dance. They agreed it paid off. It is Del Camp’s first World Championship; Akalin competed in 2021 in Stockholm, SWE.

We made it here, so it felt like fun,” Del Camp said. “I wasn’t nervous. It was just like we’re going to have fun, so we just performed our hearts out as best we could.”

Carolane Soucisse & Shane Firus (IRE) spoke about representing Ireland.

“The country is very special. Ireland is killing it in about every sport now, so we definitely want to do it in the winter sports – in figure skating,” Firus said. “Here in Boston lots of people came up to us sharing their Irish heritage.”

Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Versluis (FIN) spoke about their fall.

“It’s hard to say anything right now,” Versluis added. “Somehow my pick got stuck, and I fell.”

“The audience was amazing after the fall,” Turkkila said. “They helped us to keep going, and we tried to save what we could. We were able to manage the components.”

Milla Ruud Reitan & Nikolai Majorov (SWE) were very excited about the audience and their skate.

Majorov said, “It was so much fun. It’s a fantastic way to end the season. We might not be World Champions, but we felt like World Champions on the ice today. We almost wanted to stay on the ice. Honestly, I would have no trouble doing a double run today.”

Jennifer Janse van Rensburg & Benjamin Steffan (GER) commented on their experience.

“The venue is fantastic! The atmosphere is cool! It was so much fun to skate this program,” Steffan said.

Mariia Ignateva & Danijil Leonyidovics Szemko (HUN) rated their dance.

“Let’s say it was not the best this season, but definitely not bad. Audience felt good. Performance felt good.”

Chelsea Verhaegh & Sherim Van Geffen (NED) who competed in their third World Championships. (2021, 2023) explained how this Worlds was different for Verhaegh.

“All of the Championships are exciting in a different way. This was a new kind of excitement, something I haven’t experienced before. I think it was the interaction we had with the audience. I really felt like we were playing with the audience. That was new and nice.”