Duhamel, Radford win world gold

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford's performance at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships was the cherry on top of a perfect season.

The Canadian pairs skating team took the gold medal at the world event held in Shanghai after finishing first in both the short and free skates with near flawless performances. The pair held a commanding seven-point lead over their nearest competitors.

After taking the bronze medal at the previous two world championships, Duhamel, of Lively, and Radford, of Balmertown, finally clinched the top spot.

“We’re so excited,” Radford said in a post-competition interview with Olympic.ca. “We’re extremely proud of ourselves. This is a dream come true for us. You never know if you’ll be able to stand on top of a world podium no matter how hard you work.”

The pair has dominated all competitions this season, going undefeated in all events entered, including the Grand Prix Final, Four Continents Championships and Canadian Championships. Their success has been bolstered by difficult and unique technical elements such as side-by-side triple Lutzes and the throw quad Salchow. They are the only team in the world to have both in their arsenal.

Duhamel and Radford's victory marks the first title won by a Canadian team at the world event since Jamie Sale and David Pelletier accomplished the feat in 2001.