The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition
sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the
categories of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
Generally held in March, the World Championships are considered the most
prestigious of the ISU Championships, which also include the European
Championships, the Four Continents Championships, and the World Junior
Championships. With the exception of the Olympic title, a world title is
considered to be the highest competitive achievement in figure skating.
The corresponding competition for junior-level skaters is the World Junior
Championships. The corresponding competition for senior-level
synchronized skating is the World Synchronized Skating Championships and
for junior level the World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships.
History The Internationale Eislauf-Vereingung
formed in 1892 to govern international competition in speed and figure skating.
The first Championship, known as the Championship of the Internationale
Eislauf-Vereingung, was held in Saint Petersburg in 1896. The event had four
competitors and was won by Gilbert Fuchs.
The championships were presumed all-male since competitive skating was generally
viewed as a male sport, however there were no specific rules regarding the
gender of competitors. In 1902 Madge Syers entered the championships, and won
the silver medal. The 1903 ISU Congress considered gender issues but passed no
new rules. The 1905 Congress established a second class ladies competition.
Winners were to be known as ISU, not World Champions. Men's and Ladies events
were normally held separately. The first ladies competition was in 1906 and held
in Davos, won by Syers. The first pairs competition was held in
St. Petersburg in 1908, even though in some countries pairs competition was
illegal and considered indecent. One such country was Japan, which had
applied for the Winter Olympics in 1940. Early championships for both ladies and
pairs, previously titled merely as the ISU Championships, were retroactively
given World Championship status in 1924. In the early years judges were invited
by the host country and were often local. At the 1927 ladies' event held in
Oslo, three of the five judges were Norwegian. The three Norwegian judges
gave first place to Norwegian competitor Sonja Henie, while the Austrian and
German judges placed defending champion Herma Szabo first. The controversial
result stood, giving Henie her first world title; however following the
controversy the ISU introduced a rule allowing no more than one judge per
country on the panel. The 1930 championships in New York City
combined all three competitions into one event for the first time, and was also
the first championships to be held outside Europe. Ice dancing entered the
program officially in 1952, after having been an unofficial part of the
championships since 1936. In 1960, the number of participants per
country was limited to a maximum of three per discipline.
Compulsory figures were removed from the World Championships in 1991.
The 6.0 system was used for judging until the 2004 championships, and the
ISU Judging System was used from the 2005 edition onwards.
In the years of the Winter Olympics during the last few decades, when the
World Championships are held around a month after the Olympic Games, there
have been cases of the large proportion of Olympic medalists not attending.
Reasons for forgoing the post-Olympics Worlds have included skaters needing
rest for physical and mental exhaustion, and/or Olympic medalists wanting to go
professional to cash in on their Games success. The ISU has begun discussing
lengthening the time between the Games and the Worlds.
= Cancellations= The World Figure Skating Championships
have been cancelled 15 times in its history: from 1915–1921 due to World War
I, from 1940–1946 due to World War II, and in 1961 as a result of the loss of
the entire American team in the crash of Sabena Flight 548.
The 2011 Championships, originally slated to be held in Tokyo, were
initially considered for cancellation following the 2011 Japan earthquake, but
were instead moved to Moscow. Eligibility and qualifying
Since 1996, skaters must be at least fifteen before July 1 of the previous
year. Thus, to compete at the 2010 Worlds, skaters had to be 15 or older
before July 1, 2009. A skater must turn 15 before it becomes July 1 in their
place of birth – even an hour later is not accepted by the ISU. The World
Junior Championships is the corresponding competition for skaters
aged 13 to 19 who are not old enough for senior Worlds or do not qualify. For a
few years after the introduction of the 1996 age rules, a loophole existed for
underage skaters who had medaled at Junior Worlds. The loophole was
eventually eliminated. A few who had not medaled at Junior Worlds but had
competed at senior Worlds before the introduction of the rules, such as Tara
Lipinski of the United States, were allowed to continue competing in senior
Worlds due to the Grandfather clause. Since 2010, skaters must achieve minimum
technical elements scores in the short and free programs at a prior
international event in the ongoing or preceding season. The short and free
scores may be attained at different international events. After an ISU
congress voted to eliminate the qualifying rounds, the TES minimums were
raised for the 2013 World Championships. Competitors are entered by country. Each
member nation of the International Skating Union is allowed one to three
entries in each discipline based on the nation's performance at the previous
championship. Member nations select their entries according to their own
criteria. Some countries rely on the results of their national championships
while others have more varied criteria, which may include success at certain
international events or specific technical requirements. All of the
selected skaters must meet the ISU's age and TES requirements.
Because of the large number of entries at the World Championships, for some
years the event included qualifying rounds for men and ladies. After the
2006 championships in Calgary, Canada, the ISU Congress voted to eliminate the
qualifying round. It was later reintroduced and then eliminated again
after the 2012 World Championships. After the short program, the top 24
single skaters and top 20 pairs advance to the free skate. In ice dance, the top
30 teams in the compulsory dance advanced to the original dance, and the
top 24 after that segment advanced to the free dance.
Countries earn a second or third entry for the following year's competition by
earning points through skater placement. The points are equal to the sum of the
placements of the country's skaters. Entries do not carry over and so
countries must continue to earn their second or third spot every year. If a
country only has one skater/team, that skater/team must place in the top ten to
earn a second entry and in the top two to earn three entries to next year's
championships. If a country has two skaters/teams, the combined placement of
those teams must be 13 or fewer to qualify 3 entries, and 28 or fewer to
keep their two entries. If they do not do so, they only have one entry for the
following year. There are exceptions if a skater is
forced to withdraw in the middle of the competition due to a medical emergency
or equipment problems. Medalists
= Men= = Ladies=
= Pairs= = Ice dancing=
Records Cumulative medal count
References Sources
Hines, James R.. Figure skating: a history. University of Illinois Press.
ISBN 978-0-252-07286-4. OCLC 59149288. Smith, Beverley. Figure skating: a
celebration. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-2819-9. OCLC 30974224.
ISU Results: Men PDF ISU Results: Ladies PDF
ISU Results: Pairs PDF ISU Results: Dance PDF
ISU Constitution & General Regulations 2006 PDF
ISU Special Regulations and Technical Rules: Single and Pair Skating and Ice
Dancing 2006 PDF External links
2000 Championships 2001 Championships
2002 Championships 2003 Championships
2004 Championships at the International Skating Union
2005 Championships at the International Skating Union
2006 Championships at the International Skating Union
2007 Championships at the International Skating Union
2008 Championships at the International Skating Union
2009 Championships at the International Skating Union
2010 Championships at the International Skating Union