The German figure skaters Jennifer Janse van Rensburg and Benjamin Steffan missed qualifying for the free skate in ice dancing at the World Championships in Montreal, Canada.
The three-time German champions only achieved 65.86 points and 22nd place in the rhythm dance. The final of the best 20 couples on Saturday evening (6.30 p.m./sportschau.de) will take place without German participation.
“I’m happy with how we ran, but disappointed with the rating,” said Steffan. Janse van Rensburg was initially almost “speechless” about the jury’s decision. “We implemented the suggestions for improvement after the European Championships. We were rewarded for it at the Bavarian Open. In retrospect, we have to ask ourselves what the reason was,” she said.
Defending champions Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) have the best prospects in the fight for gold. The duo is in the lead with 90.08 points, ahead of the Italians Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (87.52). Janse van Rensburg and Steffan wanted to build on their 15th World Championship place from last year in Canada. At the European Championships in January in Lithuania they finished eleventh.
Minerva-Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin achieved the best German World Cup result in Montreal on Thursday with bronze in pair skating. It was the first German World Cup medal in six years; Aljona Savchenko/Bruno Massot won gold in 2018.
