2021 World Figure Skating Championships

The 2021 World Figure Skating Championships are scheduled to be held in Stockholm, Sweden from March 22–28, 2021.[1] Figure skaters will compete for the title of world champion in men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dance.

2021 World Figure Skating Championships
Type:ISU Championship
Date:March 22 – 28
Season:2020–21
Location:Stockholm, Sweden
Host:Skate Sweden
Venue:Ericsson Globe
Defending champions
Men's singles:
Nathan Chen
Ladies' singles:
Alina Zagitova
Pair skating:
Sui Wenjing / Han Cong
Ice dance:
Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron
Previous:
2020 World Championships
Next:
2022 World Championships

Stockholm was announced as the host in June 2018.[2] It will be the first time that Stockholm has hosted the World Championships since 1947.[3] The competition will be used to determine the entry quotas for each federation at the 2022 World Championships and the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, event organizers plan to host the event in a bubble.[4]

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

A Swedish government ban limiting entrants in international competitions hosted by Sweden to only those from the European Union was lifted on November 20, 2020.[5]

In early December, even as the 2021 European Championships and the 2020–21 Grand Prix Final were cancelled, ISU Vice President Alexander Lakernik stated that the ISU would make "every effort" to hold the World Championships.[6] Lakernik later stated that the ISU would have been considered moving the competition to Russia, if not for the Court of Arbitration for Sport ban on the country holding World Championship events.[7]

On December 22, 2020, Skate Sweden, the host federation, cancelled all domestic championships for the remainder of the 2020–21 season in compliance with Public Health Agency of Sweden guidelines.[8]

During its January 28 meeting, the ISU Council affirmed that the World Championships would proceed as scheduled.[9]

ISU member nations' response

As early as November 2020, Skate Canada stated that there was a possibility, if the event continued as planned, that they would not send skaters.[4] However, despite the cancellation of its national championships and lack of competitive opportunities for its skaters, in January 2021, Skate Canada announced its selection criteria for naming a Worlds team.[10]

In January 2021, four-time and reigning ice dance World Champions Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron of France announced that they would not compete at the World Championships, citing uncertainties regarding COVID; they plan to focus on the 2022 Winter Olympics next season.[11]

The Japan Skating Federation withdrew their delegation from the 2021 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, scheduled for February in Dordrecht, Netherlands, calling into question their figure skaters' participation at Worlds.[12][13]

Qualification

Age and minimum TES requirements

Skaters are eligible for the 2021 World Championships if they turned 15 years of age before July 1, 2020 and have met the minimum technical elements score requirements. For the 2021 World Championships, the ISU accepts scores if they were obtained at senior- or junior- level ISU-recognized international competitions during the current or preceding two seasons and recorded at least 21 days before the first official practice day of the championships.[1]

Minimum technical scores (TES)
Discipline SP / RD FS / FD
Men3464
Ladies3051
Pairs2744
Ice dance3347
Must be achieved at an ISU-recognized international event
in the ongoing or preceding two seasons.
SP/RD and FS/FD scores may be attained at different events.

Traditionally, scores must be attained from an ISU-recognized senior-level international competition during the current or preceding season. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, the ISU extended the validity to scores attained at an ISU-recognized international competition at either the senior or junior level during the current or preceding two seasons. Skaters who do not have any technical minimums (e.g. new pairs or ice dance teams) or still do not meet technical minimums under the expanded timeline may submit video via their federations to the ISU for virtual judging.[14]

Number of entries per discipline

Normally, the number of entries would be based on the results of the preceding Worlds. Because the 2020 World Championships were cancelled, results from the 2019 World Championships were used instead.[15]

Spots Men Ladies Pairs Dance
3  United States
 Japan		  Russia
 Kazakhstan
 Japan		  China
 Russia		  Russia
 United States
 Canada
2  China
 Russia
 Italy
 Czech Republic		  United States
 South Korea
 Canada		  France
 Canada
 Italy
 United States
 Austria
 Germany		  France
 Italy
If not listed above, one entry is allowed.

Schedule
Date Discipline Time Segment
Wednesday, March 24 Ladies 10:00 Short program
All 17:30 Opening ceremony
Pairs 18:30 Short program
Thursday, March 25 Men 11:00 Short program
Pairs 18:30 Free skating
Friday, March 26 Ice dance 10:45 Rhythm dance
Ladies 18:00 Free skating
Saturday, March 27 Men 11:00 Free skating
Ice dance 17:00 Free dance
Sunday, March 28 All 14:30 Exhibition
All times are listed in local time (UTC+01:00).[1]

Entries

Member nations began announcing their entries in December 2020.

Country Men Ladies Pairs Ice dance
 Estonia[16] Aleksandr Selevko Eva-Lotta Kiibus
 Germany[17] Paul Fentz Nicole Schott Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert
Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel		 Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck
 Great Britain[18] Peter James Hallam Natasha McKay TBD[lower-alpha 1] Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson
 Japan[19] Yuzuru Hanyu
Yuma Kagiyama
Shoma Uno		 Rika Kihira
Satoko Miyahara
Kaori Sakamoto		 Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara Misato Komatsubara / Tim Koleto
 Kazakhstan[20] Maxine Weatherby / Temirlan Yerzhanov
 Russia[21] Mikhail Kolyada
TBD		 Anna Shcherbakova
TBD
TBD		 Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov
TBD
TBD		 Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin
TBD
TBD
 United States[22] Jason Brown
Nathan Chen
Vincent Zhou		 Karen Chen
Bradie Tennell		 Jessica Calalang / Brian Johnson
Alexa Scimeca Knierim / Brandon Frazier[lower-alpha 2]		 Madison Chock / Evan Bates
Kaitlin Hawayek / Jean-Luc Baker
Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue
  1. Pending decision: Zoe Jones / Christopher Boyadji or Anastasia Vaipan-Law / Luke Digby
  2. Pending attainment of TES minimums.

References
  1. "Stockholm World Figure Skating Championships 2021". International Skating Union. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  2. "Provisional allotments of ISU Championships 2021" (Press release). International Skating Union. June 10, 2018.
  3. "ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 to Stockholm, Sweden". Skate Sweden. June 10, 2018.
  4. Ewing, Lori (November 26, 2020). "Canada might not compete at world figure skating championships — if they happen". CBC.
  5. "Stockholm 2021 – ett annorlunda VM" [Stockholm 2021 – a different World Championships] (in Swedish). Skate Sweden. November 27, 2020.
  6. "Александр Лакерник: «ISU приложит все усилия для того, чтобы чемпионат мира был»" [Alexander Lakernik: "ISU will make every effort to ensure that the World Championships are held"]. Olympic Channel (in Russian). December 10, 2020.
  7. Zhukov, Vladislav (January 9, 2021). "Вице-президент ISU заявил о невозможности переноса ЧМ в Россию" [Vice President of ISU announced the impossibility of transferring the World Championships to Russia]. RBC Sport (in Russian).
  8. "Förbundstävlingar ställs in resten av säsongen" [Federation competitions are cancelled for the rest of the season] (in Swedish). Skate Sweden. December 22, 2020.
  9. "Чемпионат мира по фигурному катанию пройдет в запланированные сроки" [World Figure Skating Championships will be held as scheduled]. TASS (in Russian). January 28, 2021.
  10. "2021 ISU WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS SELECTION CRITERIA" (PDF). Skate Canada. January 2021.
  11. "Patinage Artistique : Gabriella Papadakis et Guillaume Cizeron Forfaits pour Les Mondiaux" [Figure Skating: Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron Withdraw from Worlds]. Radio Scoop (in French). January 19, 2021.
  12. "2021世界ショートトラックスピードスケート選手権大会" [2021 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships] (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. January 26, 2021.
  13. "フィギュア世界選手権はどうなる？　ショートトラック世界選手権派遣を見送り" [What about the World Figure Skating Championships? Send off the Short Track World Championships dispatch]. Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese). January 26, 2021.
  14. "Communication No. 2370: SINGLE & PAIR SKATING, ICE DANCE – Adjustments to Rule 378 for Entries in the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021". International Skating Union. February 2, 2021.
  15. "Communication No. 2336: Entries for ISU Figure Skating and Synchronized Skating Championships 2021". International Skating Union. July 23, 2020.
  16. Estonia
  17. Deutsche Eislauf-Union (February 4, 2021). "This is our team for the World Championships 2021 in Stockholm" (Instagram).
  18. British Ice Skating (February 5, 2021). "BIS is delighted to announce the GBR team for the World Figure Skating Championships 2021" (Instagram).
  19. "ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. December 28, 2020.
  20. Kazakhstan Isger, Sonja (November 25, 2020). "Boca girl, Kazakhstan guy and a Russian coach: These ice dancers, training in West Palm, are eying Beijing Olympics". The Palm Beach Post. COVID has given [Weatherby and Yerzhanov] more time to prepare. They have an invitation to the 2021 World Championship.
  21. Russia Ermolina, Olga (December 27, 2020). "Исполком ФФККР принял решение: победители чемпионата России входят в состав сборной на чемпионат мира, если он состоится" [The Executive Committee of the FFKKR made a decision: the winners of the Russian Championship are included in the national team for the World Championship, if it takes place] (in Russian). Figure Skating Federation of Russia.
  22. United States
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