Boston again showed it is "America's premier figure skating host," as attendance for the World Figure Skating Championships at TD Garden is "expected to approach 100,000," according to John Powers of the BOSTON GLOBE. That figure "compares favorably with the 109,000 who witnessed" the U.S. Championships in Boston in '14 that determined the team for the Sochi Games. The pairs and women's finals on Saturday "were sold out," while Thursday's free dance drew 10,941 fans. That event "customarily plays to numerous empty rows elsewhere" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/3). In N.Y., Christopher Clarey notes the Boston crowds were "big, enthusiastic and remarkably fair-minded, even responding with a standing ovation" for Russian skater Evgenia Medvedeva. Her "technically brilliant performance in the free program effectively put an end to American chances for gold." The quality of skating in recent years has "not regressed; only its profile has." The event was "about continuity, yet still represented progress." France's Didier Gailhaguet is a candidate to replace Int'l Skating Union President Ottavio Cinquanta in a June vote, and while he was suspended for his role in the '02 Olympic scandal and "clearly carries plenty of baggage, he is also brimming with ideas." He wants to "double the sport's development budget, reach out to nontraditional skating nations and urban youths by using temporary rinks, eliminate anonymity for judges during competitions and introduce new competition formats." Gailhaguet: "Our formats are to me a little old fashioned. Who wants today to see a girl with a chignon and a little skirt skating to Rachmaninoff? Not many. We need to find a way to connect more with the world the way it is now" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/4).
