Knierim/Frazier to "skate for the love of it" at Worlds as coach recovers from heart attack says Shae-Lynne Bourne

As reigning world champion pairs team Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier put the final touches on their preparation for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, the duo's coach, two-time Olympian Todd Sand, continues to recover following a major heart attack earlier this month.

"They're happy that he's in the right place and they're just here to do what he wants them to do: The best they can," said famed choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne, who has stepped into the role as interim coach for the Americans.

"And be present and skate for the love of it."

Sand suffered a major heart attack while coaching at the World Junior Championships in Calgary, Canada, the first week of March. Bourne, who has choreographed for the duo over the last two seasons, has joined the U.S. coaching contingent to help guide Knierim/Frazier, with the pairs event underway on Wednesday (22 March).

"I think they're in excellent shape," she added. "[They're] not trying to think past the moment or even past the event or the result or anything else. They're just being here and enjoying the experience."

It was a busy second day of practices in Japan's Saitama Super Arena on the outskirts of Tokyo, as reigning men's champ Uno Shoma dealt with a topsy-turvy couple of sessions on the ice. Meanwhile, Ilia Malinin, a challenger for Uno here, nailed a quadruple Axel in practice and appeared in fine form for his second appearance at Worlds.

It's the first competition in over four months for another gold medal contender - the ice dance duo of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. Gilles underwent an appendectomy on 19 December, forcing the duo out of Canadian nationals and the Four Continents Championships.

"I'm fully recovered," said Gilles, noting that the team was back on the ice training in full in early February. "We feel confident, we feel ready."

Added Poirier: "We feel as ready as we normally would for a Worlds. I don't think it's really changed anything. I think if anything, we feel a little bit less tired than usual because we've had the time to rest and not have the accumulation of competitions."

World Figure Skating Championships 2023: Isabeau Levito ready for debut

While Knierim/Frazier are the defending world champs in pairs, it's home hopes Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi who have swept the Grand Prix this season, winning a showdown between the two teams at the Grand Prix Final in December.

To prepare the Japanese duo for a home Worlds, coach Bruno Marcotte decided to throw a wrench in the meticulous pair's lead-up: He invited fans in the Toronto area where they train for a simulation skate, surprising the pair and - he hopes - helping them to ready for whatever unfolds in front of the home crowd this week.

"I tried to put them out of their comfort zone," laughed Marcotte. "It's going to be quite the moment here, but I think everyone is confident.

Another coach, Yulia Kuznetsova, set aside any doubts around her charge, 15-year-old Isabeau Levito, after the American teen opted out of the free skate at Four Continents last month.

"We recovered after Four Continents; she feels healthy and perfectly ready now," Kuznetsova told Olympics.com. "She got sick that day [of the free skate]; she's human. But she's fully ready to go now. We're excited for this."

While Levito is making her debut, Canada's Keegan Messing is skating at his final Worlds. The 31-year-old Canadian announced this would be his final outset, and he's taking it all in stride.

Tuesday night he soaked in the several hundred fans watching his practice, clapping along with his free skate music.

"It's an absolute whirlwind of emotions at this point," Messing said. "My skating is probably in one of the most consistent spots I've ever had it. I don't think I've ever had the mind, the training and the consistency ever coming into a competition like this. So I'm really excited to put my best foot forward and to just really see how it goes."

"It's one of the best feelings on Earth to go out and to perform what you love to do on this type of stage," he added. "To leave that behind is going to be a hard step to take."

Jason Brown making the most of Japan trip

American Jason Brown is back on the world stage for the first time since 2021.

The veteran hasn't competed internationally since the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, but won the silver at the U.S. Championships in January to secure his Worlds spot.

Earlier this month he took part in the "notte stellata" show put on by two-time Olympic champion Hanyu Yuzuru in Miyagi Prefecture.

"This is such a different year for me... I'm really embracing it," Brown said. "Everything has been a bonus type of feel."

"I've been here for three weeks. [Doing the show] was such a special event; it was really emotional and special," he said. "You could tell how much it meant to Yuzu and the people watching. ... It was special to be there for him."

Brown spent the last week training an hour outside of Tokyo alongside Japanese female skater Watanabe Rinka. He said he spent afternoons exploring the region, getting on the train and picking places to visit. (Brown speaks semi-fluent Japanese.)

"It was really fun," he said. "It was the first time I felt like I was really living in Japan. Just to be here... it was really cool."