| 2014 World Figure Skating Championships | |
|---|---|
 Yuzuru Hanyu (right) and Tatsuki Machida (left) at the 2014 World Championships | |
| Type: | ISU Championship |
| Date: | March 24 – 30 |
| Season: | 2013–14 |
| Location: | Saitama,Japan |
| Host: | Japan Skating Federation |
| Venue: | Saitama Super Arena |
| Champions | |
Men's singles: Yuzuru Hanyu | |
| Ladies' singles:Mao Asada | |
Pairs: Aliona Savchenko /Robin Szolkowy | |
Ice dance: Anna Cappellini /Luca Lanotte | |
Navigation | |
| Previous: 2013 World Championships | |
| Next: 2015 World Championships | |
The2014World Figure Skating Championships was an internationalfigure skating competition held inSaitama,Japan, at theSaitama Super Arena from March 24 to 30. Medals were awarded in the disciplines ofmen's singles, ladies' singles,pair skating, andice dancing. The event also determined the number of entries a country may send to the2015 World Championships.
The following newISU best scores were set during this competition:
| Event | Component | Skaters | Score | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladies | Short program | Mao Asada | 78.66 | 27 March 2014 | [1] |
All skaters that represent anISU member nations and reached the age of 15 before 1 July 2013 were eligible to compete at the World Championships. National associations select entries according to their own criteria but the ISU rules mandate that their athletes must have achieved the required minimum technical score at an international event prior to the World Championships in order to be eligible to contest this event.
| Discipline | SP /SD | FS /FD |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 34 | 63 |
| Ladies | 26 | 46 |
| Pairs | 24 | 41 |
| Ice dancing | 28 | 38 |
| Must be achieved at an ISU-sanctioned international event in the ongoing or preceding season. SP and FS scores may be attained at different events. | ||
Based on the results of the2013 World Championships, each ISU member nation was allowed to send one to three entries per discipline.
| Spots | Men | Ladies | Pairs | Dance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |  Canada Japan | Japan South Korea United States | Canada Russia | Canada Russia United States |
| 2 |  Czech Republic France Kazakhstan Spain United States | Canada China Italy Russia | China France Germany Italy United States | France Germany Italy |
| If not listed above, one entry is allowed. | ||||
All of the 2013 World champions were absent but the 2014 Olympic men's championYuzuru Hanyu, pairs medalistsKsenia Stolbova /Fedor Klimov andAliona Savchenko /Robin Szolkowy, and ice dancing bronze medalistsElena Ilinykh /Nikita Katsalapov, as well as several team medalists, includingYulia Lipnitskaya, competed in Saitama.
Member nations announced the following entries:
All dates/times are listed as local time in Japan. The Western hemisphere saw some of the events on the previous day, due to the time zone difference.
| Competition schedule[24] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Program | Event date | Start time[25] |
| Pairs | Short program | March 26 | 10:00 a.m. |
| Free skating | March 27 | 11:30 a.m. | |
| Men | Short program | March 26 | 15:45 p.m. |
| Free skating | March 28 | 17:00 p.m. | |
| Ladies | Short program | March 27 | 15:45 p.m. |
| Free skating | March 29 | 17:15 p.m. | |
| Ice dancing | Short dance | March 28 | 10:50 a.m. |
| Free dance | March 29 | 12:30 p.m. | |
Japan was named as the host in June 2011.[26] Saitama was confirmed as the city in February 2013.[27]
Olympic bronze medalists,Aliona Savchenko /Robin Szolkowy of Germany, took the lead in the pairs' short program, two points ahead of Canada'sMeagan Duhamel /Eric Radford, who edged Olympic silver medalistsKsenia Stolbova /Fedor Klimov of Russia by under a point. Savchenko/Szolkowy ranked first in the free skating by a six-point margin and won their fifth World title by an overall margin of nearly nine points. Stolbova/Klimov were awarded their first World medal, silver, finishing five points ahead of Duhamel/Radford. The latter pair outscored fellow CanadiansKirsten Moore-Towers /Dylan Moscovitch for the bronze for the second year in a row.
Japan'sTatsuki Machida ranked first in the men's short program, with Spain'sJavier Fernández and 2014 Olympic championYuzuru Hanyu in second and third respectively. Hanyu placed first in the free skating and won his first World title. Silver went to Machida, finishing 0.33 of a point behind Hanyu. Finishing six points back, Fernández won his second World bronze medal.
The ice dancing event was closely contested. Two points separated the top four in the short dance. 2014 European champions,Anna Cappellini /Luca Lanotte of Italy, took the lead, outscoring Canada'sKaitlyn Weaver /Andrew Poje by 0.5 and France'sNathalie Pechalat /Fabian Bourzat by 1.5. Slightly under three points separated the top four in the free dance and the overall scores were even closer. Cappellini/Lanotte became the second Italian ice dancers to win the World title, finishing 0.02 of a point ahead of silver medalists Weaver/Poje and 0.06 ahead of Pechalat/Bourzat, who won their second World bronze medal. 2014 Olympic bronze medalists,Elena Ilinykh /Nikita Katsalapov of Russia, placed first in the segment but finished off the podium, just 1.05 behind the gold medalists.
2008 and 2010 World champion,Mao Asada of Japan, broke the previousworld record set byKim Yuna in the short program, scoring 78.66, 1.42 points ahead of the 2012 World champion,Carolina Kostner of Italy, and 4.12 ahead of the 2014 European champion,Yulia Lipnitskaya. Asada also placed first in the free skating by a margin of five points. Lipnitskaya andAnna Pogorilaya, both 15-year-old Russians, were second and third respectively and Kostner placed sixth in the segment. Asada won her third world title by a total margin of 9.19 points, Lipnitskaya was awarded the silver medal in her first appearance at the World Championships, and Kostner took the bronze, her sixth World medal.
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Medals for overall placement:
| Discipline | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Yuzuru Hanyu | Tatsuki Machida | Javier Fernández |
| Ladies | Mao Asada | Yulia Lipnitskaya | Carolina Kostner |
| Pairs | Aliona Savchenko /Robin Szolkowy | Ksenia Stolbova /Fedor Klimov | Meagan Duhamel /Eric Radford |
| Ice dancing | Anna Cappellini /Luca Lanotte | Kaitlyn Weaver /Andrew Poje | Nathalie Péchalat /Fabian Bourzat |
Small medals for placement in the short segment:
| Discipline | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Tatsuki Machida | Javier Fernández | Yuzuru Hanyu |
| Ladies | Mao Asada | Carolina Kostner | Yulia Lipnitskaya |
| Pairs | Aliona Savchenko /Robin Szolkowy | Meagan Duhamel /Eric Radford | Ksenia Stolbova /Fedor Klimov |
| Ice dancing | Anna Cappellini /Luca Lanotte | Kaitlyn Weaver /Andrew Poje | Nathalie Péchalat /Fabian Bourzat |
Small medals for placement in the free segment:
Table of medals for overall placement:
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan (JPN) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Germany (GER) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | France (FRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Spain (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (7 entries) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | |
