For the first time since the 2009 World Championships in Los Angeles, Poland will see its athletes compete on this prestigious platform. The team, comprising six skilled skaters, is poised to challenge the last year's champions in Saitama, Japan, where the host nation clinched three titles through soloists Shoma Uno, Kaori Sakamoto, and the sports pair Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, while Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates secured the dance couple's crown.
The quest for medals has been a long journey for Poland in figure skating. Historical achievements include two bronze medals — one by Grzegorz Filipowski in Paris (1989) and another by the pair Dorota Zagórska and Mariusz Siudek in Helsinki (1999). However, the last decade has seen Polish skaters struggle to break into the top ten.
Medal hopes this year are up particularly with Moscow-born Ekaterina Kurakova, who has been representing Poland since 2019. Alongside her, Vladimir Samoylov, who finished eighth among soloists in Lithuania, is also expected to deliver a strong performance.
The Montreal Championships will also feature the sporting pair Julia Szczecinina and Michał Woźniak, alongside the freshly crowned Polish champions Oliwia Rybicka Oliver and Filip Bojanowski, who have been a team only since this spring.
Sports pairs are vying for medals on Thursday evening local time, followed by soloists on Friday, and concluding with dance pairs and soloists on Saturday.
(jh)
Source: Eurosport