Knierim, Frazier give US first pairs world title since 1979
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier became the first American pairs team to win the figure skating world championship in more than 40 years. They performed a clean program minutes after watching teammate Ashley Cain-Gribble taken off the ice on a stretcher in Montpellier, France. Cain-Gribble fell during a triple salchow and her chin appeared to hit the ice hard. She was unable to finish with her partner, Timothy LeDuc. Earlier in the day, Olympic bronze medalist Shoma Uno performed flawlessly to a Vivaldi concerto to edge silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama to lead a Japanese sweep of the first three spots after the men’s short program. Their free skate is Saturday.