BOSTON — With a long program yet to come, Gracie Gold feels confident enough to declare that perhaps it’s time for the first world title by an American woman in a decade.

“We’re only halfway through, but I can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel that maybe the drought is ending, which would be amazing,” Gold said after taking the lead in Thursday’s short program.

No U.S. woman has even finished on the podium since Kimmie Meissner took gold and Sasha Cohen bronze in 2006. But at a home world championships, the Americans now have a chance at two medals with Ashley Wagner in fourth.

Gold scored 76.43 points, followed by Russian teens Anna Pogorilaya (73.98) and Evgenia Medvedeva (73.76) and Wagner (73.16).

Starting with Wagner, seven of the final skaters were sharp Thursday, making for a bunched leaderboard going into Saturday’s long program. The third Russian teen, Elena Radionova, was fifth with 71.70 points, followed by two Japanese women: Satoko Miyahara (70.72) and Rika Hongo (69.89).

Gold, who was born in the Boston area, won her first U.S. title here at TD Garden two years ago. In the last several days, she said, she felt welcomed wherever she went.

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At January’s U.S. Championships, her short program was shaky from the start – on her opening triple-triple combination, she managed only a single lutz and afterward pronounced herself “flummoxed.”

But Thursday’s performance “was a really magical moment.” With a red flower in her hair, she skated to an Argentine tango with passion and power. Gold could have received an even higher score if not for an edge that was slightly off on her triple flip takeoff.

Her coach, Frank Carroll, worked with the last American singles skater to earn a world championships medal, Evan Lysacek, who won the title in 2009 the last time the event was in the United States.

“She skates so consistently day in and day out, short and long program,” Carroll said of Gold’s practices, “the maddening thing about it is when she doesn’t (in competition).”

No such problems Thursday.

“I was absolutely delighted,” he said.

Pogorilaya, 17, was the least accomplished of the three Russians coming in, finishing third behind her two countrywomen at both the national championships and European Championships.

“I didn’t expect this high score,” she said. “When I went out, I was very focused and I didn’t think about anything. I just kept a cool head.”

In the pairs ice dancing free skate, the team of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron from France finished first with 118.17 points. They were followed by the American teams of Maia and Alex Shibutani (113.73) and Madison Chock and Evan Bates (113.31).


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