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Strong finish at skating worlds gives US hope for 3rd Olympic pair. That hasn't happened since 1994.

BOSTON (AP) — Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the U.S. celebrated once in the center of the ice after their free skate at the world figure skating championships on Thursday night and again about a half hour later.

Moments after the pair said they hoped for a strong finish that would help their nation qualify a third team for the 2026 Olympics, the scores for their teammates, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, were announced and word filtered over: “You did it.”

The skaters hugged again, and bounced with glee.

By finishing in the top six – one spot ahead of Kam and O’Shea – Efimova and Mitrofanov helped the U.S. provisionally qualify three pairs for 2026 Winter Games. Two of the spots are guaranteed, and a third can be secured at a qualifying event in Beijing later this year.

“It’s bigger than us,” Mitrofanov said. “We set a little goal in our heads that we knew that there was a possibility, and that is something that we really want to strive for. Whether or not we’ll make it to the Olympics, we will always know that we did everything for Team USA.”

An international power in the other three figure skating disciplines, the Americans have never won gold in pairs; they have not medaled since Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard took bronze in Calgary in 1988.

It has been more than 30 years – the 1994 Games in Lillehammer – since the United States has sent three pairs to the Olympics.

Efimova and Mitrofanov were shaky with the double axels in their combination sequence, and she put her foot down on their triple toe loops. But otherwise, their program set to “Je Suis Malade” earned high marks for execution.

When the reigning U.S. champions finished, they pumped their fists and screamed in ecstasy. Efimova pounded on his chest in celebration. They hugged, with Mitrofanov squeezing her head hard into his chest.

The scores – 135.59 in the free skate, and 199.29 overall – were career bests and good enough to place them first at the time. That didn’t last – they finished fourth in the free skate, and sixth overall, with Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan returning to the top step of the pairs podium a year after losing their title.

The crowd responded with a standing ovation for the Efimova and Mitrofanov, hometown favorites who train at the Skating Club of Boston. The club lost six people in a January plane crash that killed more than two dozen members of the skating community coming back from a development camp following the U.S. championships in Wichita, Kansas.

“It feels like a family,” Mitrofanov said. “We have all come together, and it’s a very tight community, and we’re very blessed to represent the Skating Club of Boston and train there and have so many people support us.

“It means everything,” he said. “To be honest, that’s a dream come true. Since we knew that worlds would be in Boston, that’s when we were like, ‘Oh my goodness, this would be our dream to be able to put out two great performances.’”

A day after their emotional skate in the short program, which followed shortly after a tribute to the crash victims, Efimova said she focused on her performance this time. She didn’t realize what they’d accomplished until Mitrofanov spun her around.

“I forgot about the crowd, totally,” she said. “This happened also at nationals, and afterwards I told Misha that I didn’t really see it. I did not understand what was going on. And this time he turned me around and said, ‘Watch!’ And I was like ‘Oh, right, there’s a crowd.’”

And when she saw him celebrating, she knew it must be pretty special.

“I always try to stay calm, but in these kind of moments, I can’t. I can’t,” he said. “It’s everything that I gave. I gave my heart out to that skate and it really felt great.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

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