Maybe he is putting (out) effort, but to us, it looks effortless and really easy.“And it's not just his jumps. I feel like his skating and his artistry, his expression is getting better year by year,

“Let’s get this party started!” That was Ilia Malinin’s message to the ticketholders on the Hub Vision screen before he took the ice at TD Garden on Thursday afternoon. The men’s short program at the World Figure Skating Championships had been underway for five and a half hours and more than three dozen competitors already had skated.

Japanese duo Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara recovered from early setbacks to take pairs gold at the World Figure Skating Championships after Thursday's free skate program in Boston.

In the men's short program, Ilia Malinin jumped out to an early lead heading into Sunday's free skate as he attempts to defend his world championship. Meanwhile, Japan's Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi maintained their lead after Wednesday's short program and excelled in the free skate to become two-time world champions.

Defending champion Ilia Malinin seized command of the men's competition at the World Figure Skating Championships on Thursday while Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the pairs title in