World Figure Skating Championships

The World Figure Skating Championships ("Worlds") is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion. This event is considered the most prestigious of the ISU Championships (the three other annual figure skating competitions designated "ISU Championships" are the European Figure Skating Championships, the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, and the World Junior Figure Skating Championships), and, with the exception of the Olympic title, a world title is considered to be the highest honor in figure skating. Skaters compete in the categories of men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dancing at the World Figure Skating Championships. The competition is generally held in March.

The corresponding competition for Junior-level skaters is the World Junior Championships. The corresponding competition for synchronized skaters is the World Synchronized Skating Championships.

In 2009, the championships will take place in Los Angeles, California, USA from March 23 to 29. In 2010, they will be held in Turin, Italy from March 22 to 28. In 2011, they will be held in Nagano, Japan From March 21 to 27.

History

The World Championships were established in 1896. Originally, they contained only the men's event. There was no rule regarding women competing, so in 1902, Madge Syers-Cave competed and won the silver.

The 1903 ISU Congress considered gender issues but passed no new rules. Madge Syers-Cave entered the 1904 competition but withdrew due to injury. 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. In 1906 Davos was the site of the first ladies competition. [Figure Skating: A History, 2006, James R. Hines, page 88. ISBN 0-252-07286-3]

Qualifying

Figure skaters are entered into the championships by country. Each International Skating Union Member (national association) may enter one skater or team in each event. Some countries are permitted to enter 2 or 3 participants if their skaters performed well at the previous championship.

Because of the large number of entries at the World Championships, for some years the event included qualifying rounds for men and ladies in addition to the normal short program and free skating components. After the 2006 championships in Calgary, Canada, the ISU Congress voted to eliminate the qualifying round for single skaters, leaving just the short program and free skating. After the short program, the top 24 single skaters and top 20 pairs advance to the free skate. In ice dance, the top 30 couples in the compulsory dance advance to the original dance, and the top 24 couples after the original dance advance to the free dance.

Skaters qualify for the World Championships by belonging to a member nation of the ISU. Each country gets one entry in every discipline by default. The most entries a country can have in a single discipline is three. 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 (top two if they have three). 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.

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Ladies

Pairs

Ice Dancing

Cumulative medal count

References

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*PDFlink| [http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-177760-194978-110492-0-file,00.pdf ISU Constitution & General Regulations 2006] |793 KB
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External links

* [http://ww2.isu.org/figure/events/9900/2000worlds.html 2000 Championships]
* [http://ww2.isu.org/figure/events/0001/worlds.html 2001 Championships]
* [http://www.icecalc.com/events/wc2002/results/index.htm 2002 Championships]
* [http://www.icecalc.org/events/wc2003/results/index.htm 2003 Championships]
* [http://www.isufs.org/results/wc2004/ 2004 Championships]
* [http://www.isufs.org/results/wc2005/ 2005 Championships]
* [http://www.isufs.org/results/wc2006/ 2006 Championships]
* [http://www.isufs.org/results/wc2007/ 2007 Championships]
* [http://www.isufs.org/results/wc2008/ 2008 Championships]