Canada's Weaver, Poje 3rd after short dance at figure skating worlds
Teammates Piper Gilles, Paul Poirier sit 6th after setting PB in Milan, Italy
Canada's Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje are in medal position after the short dance at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Milan, Italy.
The duo set a personal-best score of 78.31 on Friday and will enter Saturday's free dance (10:20 a.m. ET) in third place.
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Weaver and Poje eclipsed their previous mark of 77.47, set in October 2017 at Skate Canada International.
"It's bittersweet to know we have this in us but what a way to finish the season with the short program — the way we know how," Weaver told CBC Sports' Paul Martini.
The Canadian pairing are two-time world medallists, having won silver in 2014 and bronze in 2015.
Fellow Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier also set a new personal best in the short program and sit sixth with an overall score of 74.51.
"We've been training all year to get above 70 and for it to happen at the world championships is incredible ... we made a few changes after the Games — as everyone does — and we flipped some elements and I really felt like that gave us more impact going into the end," Gilles said.
Leading the way are France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron with a score of 83.73. The duo finished second to Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir at the recent Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and are seeking their third world championship title.
Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue sit second with a score of 80.42.
"We wanted to go home from the Olympics and keep improving and really put out an incredible performance," Hubbell said, adding that they were especially pleased to have achieved the highest levels for all their elements. "We really feel we gave our best performance today."
The third Canadian team of Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus qualified for the free dance in 11th with a score of 64.02.
With files from The Associated Press
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