US vs. Canada sports: American ice dancers top Canadian rivals for world title [Video]

Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates became the first ice dancers to win three consecutive world championships in nearly three decades Saturday night, and the Americans were holding onto first place with their jazzy free skate after a strong performance by Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

Chock and Bates finished with 222.06 points, while Gilles and Poirier took the silver medal for the second straight year with 216.54. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson landed on the podium in third, earning Britain’s first world medal since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean finished their run of four straight ice dance titles in 1984.

Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov were the last to win three in a row, triumphing four straight times for Russia from 1994-97.

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“Coming in here, we weren’t thinking about a three-peat or any type of title defense. It was a standalone event,” Bates said. “We were as prepared as we could possibly …