Americans In First

The worlds’ losses were Meno and Sand’s gain.

With top contenders dropping out of the World Figure Skating Championships because of injuries and illness, the Americans whose careers seemed on the wane wound up winning the short program.

“This is a short program we really love, and this being our last competition, we wanted to skate to our favorite programs,” Jenni Meno said after she and husband Todd Sand edged Olympic silver medalists Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.

The 1994-96 U.S. champions who will leave the Olympic-eligible ranks after this event are in strong position for their third world medal. They won bronze in 1995 and ‘96.

They also could become the first American couple since Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner in 1979 to win the world pairs crown.