| 2023 World Figure Skating Championships | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type: | ISU Championship |
| Date: | March 22 – 26 |
| Season: | 2022–23 |
| Location: | Saitama, Japan |
| Host: | Japan Skating Federation |
| Venue: | Saitama Super Arena |
| Champions | |
Men's singles: Shoma Uno | |
| Women's singles:Kaori Sakamoto | |
| Pairs:Riku Miura andRyuichi Kihara | |
Ice dance: Madison ChockandEvan Bates | |
Navigation | |
| Previous: 2022 World Championships | |
| Next: 2024 World Championships | |
The2023 World Figure Skating Championships were held from March 22 to 26, 2023, at theSaitama Super Arena inSaitama, Japan.[1] Sanctioned by theInternational Skating Union (ISU), theWorld Championships are considered the most prestigious event in figure skating.[2] Medals were awarded inmen's singles, women's singles,pair skating, andice dance. The competition determined the entry quotas for each skating federation at the2024 World Championships.Shoma Uno andKaori Sakamoto, both of Japan, won the men's and women's events, respectively.Riku Miura andRyuichi Kihara of Japan won the pairs event, andMadison Chock andEvan Bates of the United States won the ice dance event.
Based on the results of the2022 World Championships, each ISU member nation could field one to three entries per discipline.[3] Skaters from Russia and Belarus were banned from participating "until further notice" due to the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4]
| Spots | Men | Women | Pairs | Ice dance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Japan United States |  Belgium Japan South Korea United States |  Canada Japan United States |  France United States |
| 2 | Canada France Georgia Italy |  Azerbaijan Georgia Germany |  Austria France Georgia Germany Great Britain Netherlands | Canada Great Britain Italy Lithuania Spain |
TheInternational Skating Union published the initial list of entrants on February 28, 2023.[5]
| Date | Discipline | Withdrew | Added | Reason | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 24 | Ice dance | Continued recovery | [6] | ||
| March 18 | Men | N/a | Health problems | [7] |
Women competing insingle skating first performed theirshort programs on Wednesday, March 22, while men performed theirs on Thursday, March 23.[1] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 40 seconds,[8] the short program had to include the following elements:
For men: onedouble or triple Axel; onetriple or quadruple jump; onejump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, two triple jumps, or a quadruple jump and a double jump or triple jump; oneflying spin; onecamel spin orsit spin with a change of foot; onespin combination with a change of foot; and astep sequence using the full ice surface.[9]
For women: one double or triple Axel; one triple jump; one jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, or two triple jumps; one flying spin; onelayback spin,sideways leaning spin, camel spin, or sit spin without a change of foot; one spin combination with a change of foot; and one step sequence using the full ice surface.[10]
Women performed theirfree skates on Friday, March 24, while men performed theirs on Saturday, March 25.[1] The free skate performance for both men and women could last no more than 4 minutes,[8] and had to include the following: seven jump elements, of which one had to be an Axel-type jump; three spins, of which one had to be a spin combination, one had to be a flying spin, and one had to be a spin with only one position; a step sequence; and achoreographic sequence.[11]
Couples competing inpair skating performed their short programs on Wednesday, March 22.[1] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 40 seconds,[8] the short program had to include the following elements: onepair lift, onedouble or triple twist lift, onedouble or triple throw jump, onedouble or triple solo jump, onesolo spin combination with a change of foot, onedeath spiral, and a step sequence using the full ice surface.[12]
Couples performed their free skates on Thursday, March 23.[1] The free skate could last no more than 4 minutes,[8] and had to included the following elements: three pair lifts, of which one had to be a twist lift; two different throw jumps; one solo jump; one jump combination or sequence; onepair spin combination; one death spiral; and a choreographic sequence.[13]
Couples competing inice dance performed theirrhythm dances on Friday, March 24.[1] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 50 seconds,[8] the rhythm dance this season had to include at least two differentLatin dance styles. Examples of applicable dance styles included the following:salsa,bachata,merengue,mambo,cha-cha-cha,rhumba, andsamba. The requiredpattern dance element had to be skated to a different Latin style.[14] The rhythm dance had to include the following elements: one pattern dance step sequence, onechoreographic rhythm sequence, onedance lift, one set ofsequential twizzles, and onestep sequence.[14]
Couples then performed theirfree dances on Saturday, March 25.[1] The free dance could last no longer than 4 minutes,[8] and had to include the following: three short dance lifts or one short dance lift and one combination lift, onedance spin, one set ofsynchronized twizzles, one step sequence in hold, one turns sequence while on one skate and not touching, and threechoreographic elements.[15]
For the 2022–2023 season, all of the technical elements in any figure skating performance – such asjumps andspins – were assigned a predetermined base point value and were then scored by a panel of nine judges on a scale from -5 to 5 based on their quality of execution.[16] The judging panel's Grade of Execution (GOE) was determined by calculating thetrimmed mean (that is, an average after deleting the highest and lowest scores), and this GOE was added to the base value to come up with the final score for each element. The panel's scores for all elements were added together to generate a total element score.[17] At the same time, judges evaluated each performance based on five program components – skating skills, transitions, performance, composition, and interpretation of the music – and assigned a score from .25 to 10 in .25 point increments. The judging panel's final score for each program component was also determined by calculating the trimmed mean. Those scores were then multiplied by the factor shown on the following chart; the results were added together to generate a total program component score.[18]
| Discipline | Short progam orRhythm dance | Free skate orFree dance |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 1.00 | 2.00 |
| Women | 0.08 | 1.60 |
| Pairs | 0.08 | 1.60 |
| Ice dance | 0.08 | 1.20 |
Deductions were applied for certain violations like time infractions, stops and restarts, or falls.[20] The total element score and total program component score were added together, minus any deductions, to generate a final performance score for each skater or team.[21]
Medals were awarded to the skaters or teams who achieved the highest overall placements in each discipline.
| Discipline | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | |||
| Women | |||
| Pairs | |||
| Ice dance |
Small medals were awarded to the skaters or teams who achieved the highestshort program orrhythm dance placements in each discipline.
| Discipline | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | |||
| Women | |||
| Pairs | |||
| Ice dance |
Small medals were awarded to the skaters or teams who achieved the highestfree skate orfree dance placements in each discipline.
| Discipline | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | |||
| Women | |||
| Pairs | |||
| Ice dance |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | United States | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | South Korea | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Italy | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Canada | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (6 entries) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | |
| Rank | Team | Nation | Total | SP | FS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Japan | 222.16 | 1 | 80.72 | 2 | 141.44 | |
 | United States | 217.48 | 2 | 74.64 | 1 | 142.84 | |
 | Italy | 208.08 | 3 | 73.24 | 3 | 134.84 | |
| 4 | Canada | 199.97 | 4 | 72.81 | 6 | 127.16 | |
| 5 | United States | 194.73 | 5 | 70.23 | 8 | 124.50 | |
| 6 | Canada | 193.00 | 6 | 65.31 | 4 | 127.69 | |
| 7 |  Hungary | 190.67 | 8 | 64.43 | 7 | 126.24 | |
| 8 |  Australia | 189.47 | 11 | 61.95 | 5 | 127.52 | |
| 9 | Germany | 184.60 | 15 | 60.89 | 9 | 123.71 | |
| 10 | Germany | 184.46 | 7 | 65.23 | 10 | 119.23 | |
| 11 | Canada | 181.95 | 10 | 63.33 | 11 | 118.62 | |
| 12 | United States | 175.59 | 9 | 63.40 | 13 | 112.19 | |
| 13 | Netherlands | 173.85 | 12 | 61.24 | 12 | 112.61 | |
| 14 | France | 172.29 | 13 | 61.07 | 14 | 111.22 | |
| 15 | France | 157.19 | 16 | 58.12 | 15 | 99.07 | |
| 16 | Great Britain | 153.38 | 17 | 55.42 | 16 | 97.96 | |
| 17 |  China | 148.23 | 20 | 50.32 | 17 | 97.91 | |
| 18 |  Philippines | 147.07 | 19 | 53.29 | 18 | 93.78 | |
| 19 | Georgia | 146.99 | 14 | 60.98 | 20 | 86.01 | |
| 20 | Netherlands | 146.27 | 18 | 54.93 | 19 | 91.34 | |
| 21 |  Czech Republic | 49.59 | 21 | 49.59 | Did not advance to free skate | ||
| 22 |  Ukraine | 44.74 | 22 | 44.74 | |||
| 23 | Great Britain | 43.82 | 23 | 43.82 | |||
