FIGURE SKATING / WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Soviets Win, U.S. Pair Third

Natalia Mishkutinok and Artur Dmitriev of the Soviet Union won the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships Wednesday with a balletic performance of twists and spirals.

Natasha Kuchiki of Canoga Park and Todd Sand of Thousand Oaks won the bronze.

The European champions became the 24th Soviet pair to win the title in the past 27 championships and the seventh in a row.

Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler of Canada, who led after the original program, could not match the technical ability and the artistry of the Soviets’ long program and had to settle for the silver.

Mishkutinok, 20, and Dmitriev, 23, both from Leningrad, skated to Franz Liszt’s “Dream of Love,” the same music used by Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov, who began the Soviet domination in the pairs event in the 1960s.

The Soviets earned all 5.8s and 5.9s, except for one 5.7, for their long program, which counted for two-thirds of the final score.

In the men’s competition, two-time champion Kurt Browning of Canada trails European champion Viktor Patrenko of the Soviet Union going into the decisive free routine today.

Petr Barna of Czechoslovakia, helped by a perfect 6.0 for his presentation, was third. Christopher Bowman of the United States was fourth after a routine that included a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination. U.S. champion Todd Eldredge was fifth.

The third American, Paul Wylie, fell on a double axel, missed a jump combination and had a bad landing on a triple lutz. Wylie was the last of the 20 skaters who qualified for the long program in a field of 33.