French ice dancers win fourth World title

France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron were crowned World Ice Dance Champions for the fourth time on Saturday, in Saitama, Japan, two months after winning a fifth consecutive European title.

Papadakis, 23, from Clermont-Ferrand and Cizeron, 24, from Montbrison in the Loire, had previously won world gold in 2015, 2016 and 2018. In Japan at the weekend, the 2018 Olympic runners-up posted a record 222.65 points to beat Russians Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov (211.76), and Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue (210.40).

This is the first medal of the competition for French skating. Earlier this week, Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès, gold medal contenders in pairs two months after being crowned European Champions, finished fifth after James had crashed into another skater during warm-up.