BOSTON – The near-capacity crowd was buzzing in TD Garden as two American men held onto first and second place at the 2016 world figure skating championships. Problem was, there was nearly another hour to go in the men’s long program Friday night and six more skaters to come, the six best skaters in the world.
As they kept coming, one after another, Adam Rippon and Max Aaron, the two Americans who both had skated the long programs of their lives, dropped through the standings just far enough to lose one spot for the United States in next year’s world championships, which will be a prelude for the 2018 Winter Olympics.