The world champs are set for 22-26 March in Saitama, Japan, with the host nation in the running for three of four gold medals on offer. See who is set to compete - and a full schedule of action.
8 minBy Nick McCarvel
Figure Skating
Could it be a golden world championships for host nation Japan?
The ISU World Figure Skating Championships are set for 22-26 March at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on the outskirts of Tokyo - returning to the site of Worlds in 2019.
That year it was only the now-retired Hanyu Yuzuru that landed on the podium for the home fans, winning silver, but the picture looks much different in 2023: Both Uno Shoma (men) and Sakamoto Kaori (women) are the reigning world champions in singles, while the duo of Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi aim to become the first from their country to win a pairs world title.
Saitama also hosted in 2014, when Hanyu and Asada Mao swept the world titles in front of the home crowd.
American teenagers Ilia Malinin and Isabeau Levito are eyeing respective big splashes, as their veteran teammates Madison Chock and Evan Bates clash with Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada (among other teams) for the ice dance title.
It's the penultimate major international skating event of the post-Olympic season, with the biennial World Team Trophy set for April in Tokyo.
See a full preview of the four disciplines below, including stars to watch - and a full schedule of the action.
- Jason Brown's 'year of yes:' Doing things his own way
- Loena Hendrickx exclusive: Chasing the 'impossible'
- Get to know: Four Continents champ Lee Haein
Men: Uno Shoma stands alone as favourite
A year after winning the biggest title of his career in Montpellier, the 25-year-old Uno has been golden: He won both of his Grand Prix stops in the 2022/23 season before capturing his first Grand Prix Final gold in December, two weeks before claiming his fifth national title at home.
It was at the elite Final that Uno scored a 304.46, the best score of the season - by some 20 points.
Who can challenge him? Look to the 18-year-old Malinin, who won his first U.S. title in January, although he struggled in the free skate. The 2022 world junior champion is the lone man in history to land a quadruple Axel in competition and will look to do it again in Saitama.
Malinin will need that quad Axel, as further challengers to Uno in European champion Adam Saio Him Fa of France, Canada's Keegan Messing, Matteo Rizzo of Italy, Cha Junhwan of the Republic of Korea, and Japan's Tomono Kazuki and Yamamoto Sota will all need their best skating, as well.
Crowd favourite Jason Brown returns to an international competition for the first time since Beijing 2022 having won silver at the American championships. Should he skate clean, Brown - who was sixth at the Olympics - will find himself in the medal mix.
Women: Sakamoto Kaori looks to find 2022 mentality
While it was smooth sailing for Uno in the first half of the season, the ride was bumpy for Sakamoto, who finished second at her home Grand Prix in November before slumping to fifth at the Grand Prix Final, which was won by teammate Mihara Mai.
Sakamoto has won just three of the six events she's entered this season, but after the Japanese star unravelled in the free skate in Turin at the Final she has looked more like the reigning world champion and Olympic medallist she is: The 22-year-old won her third national title in late December before finishing in second at the World University Games in January and winning in a competitive Challenge Cup field in the Netherlands last month.
Not only did she have her best score of the season (228.35) at Challenge Cup, but she edged out Mihara for gold, momentum she hopes to arrive in Saitama with.
Mihara, who swept gold across her three Grand Prix stops in the first half of the season, and triple Axel-jumping Watanabe Rinka round out the Japanese trio, which has an outside shot at a podium sweep.
Who could interrupt said sweep? Belgian veteran Loena Hendrickx has had a roller coaster season, as well, while Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia arrives brimming with confidence as European champion.
Republic of Korea's Lee Haein realised her potential with a Four Continents victory last month, while the aforementioned Levito, still just 15, is the U.S. champ.
Also to watch: Korean Kim Yelim and two-time U.S. champion Bradie Tennell, who is continuing to up her level after missing all of the Olympic season due to injury.
Pairs: Miura/Kihara look to wow home crowd
Can Miura/Kihara make more history for Japan? The Toronto-based team has already created plenty of it for its nation in pairs, with a silver medal at Worlds a year ago, as well as Grand Prix wins in Canada, Japan, and at the Final this season - before capturing Four Continents just last month.
They'll have extra motivation, too: On their last trip home to Japan, flight delays and baggage issues caused them to miss competing at their national championships, an ordeal that left them stranded in airports for three days.
They'll go head-to-head with Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, the reigning world champions. After the team won the U.S. title in January, they opted out of Four Continents for shows in Europe, but Knierim/Frazier have been dealing with an off-ice challenge: Coach Todd Sand suffered a major heart attack at the World Junior Championships earlier this month and remains in hospital care.
Those two teams are the standout favourites, while Canadian veterans Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, Americans Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy (the European champs), and the new Canadian duo of Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud also eye the podium.
Only Chan/Howe join the top two teams of having broken the 200-point mark this season.
Ice dance: Discipline guaranteed first-time champion
With reigning Olympic and world champions Gabrielle Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron sitting out this season, an ice dance world title is there for the taking - set to be the first for whoever claims it.
The aforementioned Chock/Bates and Gilles/Poirier will go head-to-head along with Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, who just celebrated their first European title in January.
While it was the Canadians who won the GP Final over the Americans in December, Chock/Bates scored a season-best score of 220.81 at Four Continents in the absence of Gilles/Poirier, who missed both that event and their national championships due to an appendectomy for Gilles over the new year.
Guignard/Fabbri are joined by Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sørensen of Canada and Britons Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson as teams to watch, all of them with a shot at landing on the podium.
Home fans will be especially supportive of Muramoto Kana and her partner, the great Takahashi Daisuke, the Vancouver 2010 bronze medallist and 2010 world champion in singles, who continues to be a top-level dancer after switching to the discipline in 2020.
ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2023: Schedule
The World Championships are back at the Saitama Super Arena - and officials expect huge crowds in the 20,000-seat venue. Worlds was held there in both 2014 and 2019, as well.
The full competition schedule can be found here. All times are local (GMT+9).
Wednesday, 22 March - Competition schedule at ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2023
- 1100 Pairs short program
- 1550 Women's short program
Thursday, 23 March - Competition schedule at ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2023
- 1100 Pairs free skate
- 1550 Men's short program
Friday, 24 March - Competition schedule at ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2023
- 1100 Ice dance rhythm dance
- 1720 Women's free skate
Saturday, 25 March - Competition schedule at ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2023
- 1230 Ice dance free dance
- 1720 Men's free skate
Sunday, 26 March - Schedule at ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2023
- 1500 Gala exhibition
Practices are held daily in the main arena from 0730 local, with ice dance practice on 25 March set for 0700, followed by the men at 0920.
