Charléne Guignard and Marco Fabbri, rainbow silver medalist
Skating, results
At the European sunrise, the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, was the scene of the Free Dance of the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships.
Two Italian dance pairs engaged. Reigning European Champions Charlène Guignard/Marco Fabbri (Fiamme Azzurre) and Victoria Manni/Carlo Röthlisberger (Ice Academy).
Guignard/Fabbri’s perfect performance in the Rhythm Dance, which ended in second place, complete with a personal best, allowed for concrete podium hopes.
The Azzurri completed the task in the Free Dance, unleashing a superlative performance that allowed them to achieve a very high degree of execution on every element presented.
For Barbara Fusar-Poli’s students, simply perfect on the technical level, came a sensational silver medal, complete with a vastly improved personal best.
The Italians were preceded only by the highly-rated Americans Madison Chock-Evan Bates, new World Champions, but they overcame the Canadians Piper Gilles-Paul Poirer, eve’s favorites, who were relegated to bronze.
For Guignard/Fabbri, fourth at the World Championships in Montpellier 2022, it is the first rainbow medal of their careers. It is the fifth overall for Italian dance.
In the past, Barbara Fusar-Poli/Maurizio Margaglio had grabbed silver in 2000 and gold in 2001; Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali had grabbed bronze in 2010; and Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte had won the most valuable metal in 2014.
Italy’s total medals in Worlds history rise to 14, two of which came in this 2023. It should be noted that only in 2014, again in Saitama, had the Italian movement achieved more than one rainbow podium in the same edition.
Widening the look to all ice disciplines, 2023 is proving to be an annus mirabilis. Never before in the same season had Italy boasted at least two rainbow podiums in three different areas. Saitama’s two medals in figure skating are, in fact, in addition to Seoul’s four in short-track and Heerenveen’s three in speed-skating.
Finally, purely as a matter of interest, it should be noted how Charléne Guignard (33 years, 224 days) and Marco Fabbri (35 years, 53 days) set a singular longevity record, becoming the most experienced skaters to medal in dance.
The other Italian dance pair, consisting of Manni/Röthlisberger, filed their first appearance in a World Championship under the Italian flag with an 18th place, confirming the position they occupied after Rhythm Dance.
