Canada's Stephen Gogolev skates to 5th place at world juniors
CBC Sports | Posted: March 8, 2019 9:31 PM | Last Updated: March 9, 2019
American Tomoki Hiwatashi takes gold
Canada's Stephen Gogolev posted the third-highest free skate score, but couldn't climb past fifth overall at the junior figure skating world championships on Friday in Zagreb, Croatia.
About two minutes in his free skate, he fell awkwardly on his triple Axel attempt and needed a few seconds to make sure his leg was flexible. He appeared to slam his right knee on the ice in his fall. He completed his program cleanly capped by a dizzying spin.
In the end, the 14-year-old Torontonian's 10th-place short program prevented him from standing on the podium with a total score of 220.66 points.
WATCH | Stephen Gogolev finishes 5th:
Instead, American Tomoki Hitawashi won gold with a combined score of 230.32 points. Russia's Roman Savosin snagged silver (229.28 points) and Italy's Daniel Grassl took bronze (224.67 points).
Toronto's Joseph Phan placed 12th with 209.02 points.
WATCH | American Tomoki Hitawashi wins gold:
"I'm disappointed," said the 17-year-old Phan, fourth last year. "I took off too fast on my first jump and my feet didn't follow. I've never made a mistake like that in my life in a competition. My quad toe is usually more consistent but I'm pleased with how I came back to land the triple Axel."
Earlier Friday, the junior ladies' event kicked off with the short program. Canada's finisher and lone qualifier was Alison Schumacher in 16th place with 51.86 points.
Russia's Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova paced the field as the lone skaters to score above 70 points.
WATCH | Anna Shcherbakova sitting atop field after women's short program:
The junior championships continue live on CBCSports.ca with the ice dance free dance at 6:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. Canada's Zachary Lagha and Marjorie Lajoie sit in first place after the rhythm dance.