ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2026 Day 3 Results After Women's Free Skate, Rhythm Dance

Just weeks after the 2026 Olympics wrapped up, the best figure skaters in the world have reconvened in Prague for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

Friday marked the penultimate day of competition, with rhythm portion of the ice dance and women's free skate taking place.

In the latter event, Kaori Sakamoto and Mone Chiba once again posted the top two scores after also doing so in the short program.

The ice dance was led by the newly-crowned Olympic gold medal pairing of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. The French duo dominated with a total score of 92.74, more than six full points better than the No. 2 pair.

Women's Free Skate Results (Combined Score)

1. Kaori Sakamoto, Japan: 158.97 (238.28)
2. Mone Chiba, Japan: 150.02 (228.47)
3. Nina Pinzarrone, Belgium: 143.38 (215.20)
4. Isabeau Levito, United States: 134.83 (206.99)
5. Lara Naki Gutmann, Italy: 135.79 (205.12)
6. Amber Glenn, United States: 130.47 (203.12)
7. Niina Petrõkina, Estonia: 134.98 (202.27)
8. Jia Shin, South Korea: 136.65 (201.89)
9. Ami Nakai, Japan: 130.90 (200.00)
10. Anastasiia Gubanova, Georgia: 128.89 (198.81)

Ice Dance - Rhythm Dance Leaderboard

1. Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron (France): 92.74
2. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (Canada): 86.45
3. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (Great Britain): 85.09
4. Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik (United States): 84.21
5. Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud (France): 83.07
6. Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck (Spain): 81.06
7. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko (United States): 80.89
8. Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (Canada): 80.81
9. Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius (Lithuania): 79.66
10. Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin (Georgia): 79.34

Full results via ISUResults.com

All eyes were on Sakamoto and Chiba entering the free skate. Both women had incredibly strong showings in the short program, posting by far the top two scores with Sakamoto slightly ahead of Chiba (79.31 to 78.45).

Sakamoto, who went last on Friday, left no doubt that she was the best skater in the competition. Her free-skate score of 158.97 was nearly nine points better than Chiba to secure the gold medal, and her total score was a new personal best.

It wasn't even clear if Sakamoto would compete in the World Championships. She had previously set the Olympics as her retirement event, but that timeline got pushed back during the Winter Games as she pondered one more run at the worlds.

Now, the 25-year-old can ride off into the sunset with four wins at the World Championships in the last five years and four Olympic medals under her belt as part of a storied career.

Chiba did more than enough in her skate to maintain the No. 2 position, her best finish at the World Championships. The 20-year-old continues to ascend and figures to be a major player at the 2030 Olympics after just missing the podium at the with a fourth-place finish last month in Milan.

Sakamoto and Chiba finished second and third at last year's World Championships, respectively. Alysa Liu took the gold in what was the first step toward her eventual triumph at the 2026 Olympics.

Liu's decision to skip the worlds this year opened the door for Sakamoto to get back to the top of the mountain after her previous wins from 2022 to '24, and she didn't let it pass.

The bronze went to Nina Pinzarrone, who jumped up two spots after a fifth-place showing in short program. She is the first Belgian woman to medal at the World Championships since Loena Hendrickx in 2023.

Pinzarrone's leap came after Amber Glenn, who was in the third position after the short program, fell down the rankings with her free skate. The U.S. skater missed four elements in her routine, though she did close out strong with a triple axel.

The judges gave Glenn a score of 130.47, dropping her to sixth overall. She was in good spirits afterward, while acknowledging her physical and mental exhaustion from a busy start to the year.

Dancing a routine set to "Vogue" by Madonna, Beaudry and Cizeron turned in their best score of the season to date on Friday.

Their 54.12 technical element score was by far the best in the field, and they received a 38.62 program component score to give them a huge lead going into the free dance on Saturday.

Given that Beaudry and Cizeron only made their competitive debut as a duo last August, their on-ice chemistry has been remarkable so far.

"It′s our first world championships together so we really wanted to have fun and we really enjoyed the crowd," Fournier Beaudry said after Friday's showing. "They were exchanging energy with us and it just reminds us why we do it, we wouldn′t be there without them. It′s just a very very nice moment for us."

The closest challenger to the Beaudry-Cizeron tandem is Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

With Madison Chock and Evan Bates opting to skip the worlds after winning silver at the winter Games, Gilles and Poirier were viewed as the top contenders against France's star duo.

The Canadians put together a very good routine that had the second-highest TES and PCS, but they have a long way to go on Saturday if they want to close the gap on Beaudry and Cizeron.

Spots two and three are both up for grabs in the free dance. There are eight teams that scored over 80.0 in the rhythm dance, with 3.38 points separating Gilles and Poirier in second place from Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud in fifth.

The World Championships will conclude on Saturday with the men's free skate and free routine in the ice dance.