Sports

Alaska’s Keegan Messing places 6th at World Figure Skating Championships and improves his odds for a return trip to the Olympics

Alaska’s Keegan Messing enjoyed a career-best finish at the World Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, and in the process he increased his chances for a return trip to the Winter Olympics.

Messing, whose dual citizenship allows him to compete for Canada, claimed sixth place in men’s singles at the championships in Stockholm, Sweden.

He posted a career-high score of 270.26 points in the long program for his best finish in three appearances at the World Championships.

By doing so, he clinched an additional men’s singles quota for Canada for next year’s Winter Olympics. The country now has two berths for the 2022 Beijing Games, and as of now, Messing is one of Canada’s top three men.

He was the only Canadian to compete in men’s singles this week in Sweden, but after his free skate, Messing said teammate Nam Nguyen — one of his best friends, who watched back in Canada — was with him all the way.

“We did it together. We did it. Love you, buddy,” Messing said, addressing Nguyen while on camera in the kiss-and-cry area.

Messing, who placed fifth in Thursday’s short program, landed two quadruple jumps early in his program, one of them in combination, and landed his first triple axel but struggled with his second.

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“I feel absolutely incredible,” he said. “To be able to go out there and to put that kind of program out. I said before coming here that Nam and I were going to do this together, and together we did it. He was there with me, backstage, on the ice, and gave me the strength to push through this program. I couldn’t have done it without him.”

The gold medal went to Nathan Chen of the United States, who captured his third world title by landing five quads Saturday.

In two previous world championships, Messing finished eighth in 2018 and 15th in 2019. Earlier this season he earned the bronze medal at Skate America, his first career podium finish at a Grand Prix event.

Messing placed 12th for Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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