Papadakis and Cizeron win ice dance gold medal at worlds

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Defending champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France won the free dance on Saturday to win gold in the ice dance competition at the figure skating world championships.

Papadakis and Cizeron, first after the rhythm dance, received 134.23 points for their free dance for a total of 222.65 and their fourth ice dance world title.

Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia were second with 211.76 points followed by Madison Hubble and Zachary Donahue of the United States who moved up from fourth place to finish third with 210.40.

The men’s free skate closes out the competition later Saturday. Defending champion Nathan Chen led after the short program and has a 12.53-point lead over two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan.