Boitano 3rd in Skating Figures

Soviet Alexander Fadeev, the reigning master of the figure 8, skated to the head of the pack after the compulsory figures today at the World Figure Skating Championships.

Fadeev, the 1985 world champion, led through all three figures to emerge on top, as expected. But the man behind him was a surprise. Poland’s Grzegorz Filipowski, who finished fifth in the Olympics, moved up from fourth place to second in the figures, dropping American Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano into third. In fourth place was West German Heiko Fischer, while Boitano’s rival, Canadian Brian Orser, placed a disappointing fifth.