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Worlds Rewind: London 2013

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With the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020 in Montreal, Quebec just around the corner, we continue to look back at previous world championships staged in Canada. The 10-part series concludes with the 2013 world championships in London, Ont.

It was perhaps the most dominant era in the history of Canadian figure skating.

As the 2013 ISU World Figure Skating Championships arrived in London, Ont., expectations were high for the host nation as skating’s flagship event came to Canada for the first time since Calgary in 2006.

In what turned out to be a drama-filled men’s free program, Patrick Chan claimed his third consecutive world title – but it did not come easy. Chan struggled in his free program while the late Denis Ten of Kazakhstan was simply sensational, beating his season’s best score by nearly 50 points.

As Ten finished his program, he crouched down and kissed the ice at Budweiser Gardens.

Despite his struggles, Chan scored 266.78 points overall, less than 1.3 points ahead of Ten. By winning silver, Ten became the first skater from Kazakhstan to win a medal at the world championships. Spain’s Javier Fernandez took the bronze medal.

The two best ice dance teams in the world once again went head to head in London, with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the 2010 Olympic gold medallists and reigning world champions, trying to hold off Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S.

The Americans defeated their archrivals to win back the world crown they had lost to the Canadians the previous year. Davis and White finished with a 189.56 total while Virtue and Moir scored 185.04.

Russians Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov dominated the pairs competition, winning gold by 20 points and setting world records in the free program (149.87) and total score (225.71).

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany won silver, finishing just one point ahead of Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, the bronze medallists. Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch finished just off the podium, in fourth.

Duhamel and Radford went on to win back-to-back world titles in 2015 and 2016.

In the ladies’ competition, Yuna Kim of South Korea, the 2010 Olympic champion, made a triumphant return to the world championships by winning gold.

Kaetlyn Osmond, who won Skate Canada International and the Canadian title in the 2012-13 season, won over the crowd in London, finishing eighth in her worlds debut. Osmond went on to win the world crown in 2018.

The 2013 ISU World Figure Championships marked the last time the event was held in Canada. In ten world championships on Canadian soil since 1932, there have been countless unforgettable moments, and memories, for skating fans.

And now, Montreal, it’s your turn.

Day tickets for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020 are on sale now and can be purchased online at montreal2020.com, by phone at 1-877-668-8269 or in person at the Centre Bell Box Office.

2013 WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALLISTS

DISCIPLINE GOLD SILVER BRONZE
Men Patrick Chan (CAN) Denis Ten (KAZ) Javier Fernandez (SPA)
Ladies Yu-Na Kim (KOR) Carolina Kostner (ITA) Mao Asada (JPN)
Pairs Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov (RUS) Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy (GER) Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford (CAN)
Ice Dance Meryl Davis / Charlie White (USA) Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir (CAN) Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev (RUS)

Worlds Rewind: Calgary 2006

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As we head into the home stretch to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020 in Montreal, Quebec, we continue to look back at previous world championships staged in Canada. Part 9 of the ten-part series reflects on the 2006 world championships in Calgary.

One thing was certain heading into the 2006 ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Calgary’s Pengrowth Saddledome – the door was wide open for a changing of the guard.

With the 2006 Olympic Winter Games closing out in Torino, Italy, just weeks earlier, a lot of familiar faces decided to take a pass on the world championships.

Olympic men’s champion Evgeni Plushenko declined to attend the event, as did ladies’ gold medallist Shizuka Arakawa. Russian pairs champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin retired from competitive skating.

With Plushenko not competing, it was shaping up to be a battle between Canadian Jeffrey Buttle, Switzerland’s Stephane Lambiel and Americans Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir for the gold medal.

It was as close as many predicted.

Defending world champion Lambiel, skating to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, laid down a magnificent free program punctuated by a quad toe loop and four triples in the second half of his program. Even with his near-perfect performance, Lambiel defeated Joubert by less than four points for gold.

Lysacek bounced back from a hard fall in the warmup to claim the bronze medal. Canadian Emanuel Sandhu was fifth, followed by Buttle in sixth and Weir in seventh.

“I’m so happy with this title,” said Lambiel afterwards. “I competed, I fought, I was very confident, and my goal today was to skate for myself.”

“I had to push myself harder and harder and that’s why I did this job. I just thought about my skating and nothing else.”

In what many considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the world championships, American Kimmie Meissner had the skate of her life in the free program on her way to a world title at just 16 years of age, joining Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski as U.S. teenage world champions.

Meissner landed seven triple jumps in her free program, including a pair of triple-triple combinations.

“I am so happy with myself; it’s an awesome feeling,” said

Meissner, who had placed sixth at the Torino Olympics a few weeks earlier.

“I really wanted to do my best at the last competition of the season – smooth sailing right through my program.”

Fumie Suguri won the silver medal, becoming the first Japanese skater to win three medals at the world championships, adding to the back-to-back bronzes she won in 2002 and 2003. American champion Sasha Cohen, who many considered the favourite in Calgary, struggled but still managed to take home the bronze.

Montreal’s Joannie Rochette finished seventh.

Just a month after having to withdraw from the Olympics, Marie France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon captivated the Calgary crowd on home soil to win ice dance silver. In Torino, Dubreuil had a scary fall on a rotational lift near the end of their original dance, ending their Olympic dream and leaving their worlds appearance in doubt.

They came, and they delivered. With Dubreuil still injured, the duo brought down the Saddledome house and finished a mere 0.45 of a point behind Bulgaria’s Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski for gold. Olympic silver medallists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto of the U.S. finished in third spot.

”It was a long journey and there were a lot of emotions tonight,” said Lauzon after the free dance. ”There was a lot of pressure, but we did it great and we were very strong.”

”I can’t tell you how much it means,” added Dubreuil. ”Four weeks ago, I was in a wheelchair and far from thinking I could be that strong here.

”When I came here, even at the beginning of the week, I was doing all I could to show I wasn’t limping, even a little bit.”

Chinese skaters held down the top two podium positions in the pairs event. After just missing the podium in Torino, Pang Qing and Tong Jian won gold in Calgary, followed by compatriots Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao and Russia’s Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov.

The ISU World Figure Skating Championships would return to Canada for the tenth time in 2013, when London, Ontario hosted the sport’s crown jewel event.

Day tickets for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020 are on sale now and can be purchased online at montreal2020.com, by phone at 1-855-310-2525 or in person at the Centre Bell Box Office.

2006 WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALLISTS

DISCIPLINE GOLD SILVER BRONZE
Men Stéphane Lambiel (SUI) Brian Joubert (FRA) Evan Lysacek (USA)
Ladies Kimmie Meissner (USA) Fumie Suguri (JPN) Sasha Cohen (USA)
Pairs Pang Qing / Tong Jian (JPN) Zhang Dan / Zhang Hao (JPN) Maria Petrova / Alexei Tikhonov (RUS)
Ice Dance Albena Denkova / Maxim Staviski (BUL) Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon (CAN) Margarita Drobiazko / Povilas Vanagas (LIT)

Worlds Rewind: Vancouver 2001

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As we head into the home stretch to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020 in Montreal, Quebec, we continue to look back at previous world championships staged in Canada. Part 8 of the ten-part series reflects on the 2001 world championships in Vancouver.

As the skating world converged on Vancouver for the 2001 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, there were several intriguing storylines to follow at General Motors Place.

Three-time defending world champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia seemed headed for an inevitable showdown with compatriot Evgeny Plushenko, the heir apparent in men’s figure skating. Michelle Kwan saw a pair of imposing obstacles – namely Russia’s Irina Slutskaya and fellow American Sarah Hughes – standing in her way of a fourth world title. And Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, the darlings of Canadian pair skating, were looking to win gold on Canadian soil.

The men’s battle didn’t materialize as expected.

Yagudin, the three-time defending world champion, suffered a foot injury while training a few days before the competition. He had a forgettable qualifying round, falling twice and landing just three of his seven planned triple jumps to plummet to fifth spot, a fourth consecutive world title clearly in jeopardy.

If there was even a glimmer of hope for Yagudin and the rest of the field, Plushenko made sure it was short-lived with a dominating performance in Vancouver.

With a rousing long program that saw him land eight triple jumps and his signature quad-triple-double combination, Plushenko electrified the crowd with a powerful, adrenaline-filled program on the way to his first of three world titles.

“I’m so happy,” Plushenko told reporters after his long program. “I did everything clean. I am not yet conscious of winning. Maybe in a week or five days, I will realize I won this title. That I did it. I am world champion.”

Yagudin rallied to take the silver medal, while American Todd Eldredge won bronze, a full ten years after winning his first world championship.

At 29 years of age, Eldredge became the oldest men’s skater to win a medal at the world championships since Roger Turner, who was also 29, won silver in 1931.

In the ladies’ event, Kwan trailed Russia’s Slutskaya after the short program but bounced back with a near-flawless long program, including landing her triple toe-triple toe combination – a jump that had given Kwan problems throughout her career.

Canada’s greatest medal hope rested on the shoulders of the pairs tandem of Salé and Pelletier, and the two-time national championships did not disappoint on home soil. In just their third season together, Salé and Pelletier put the finishing touches on an incredible season in which they finished atop the podium in all but one event.

Skating their long program to “Tristan and Isolde,” the duo mesmerized the Vancouver crowd, bringing them to their feet before the music had stopped. At the end of their program, Salé, overcome with emotion and with her arms wrapped around Pelletier, exclaimed, “Oh my God, Oh my God.” Minutes later, as their marks were read, Canada had its first gold medal at the world championships since Elvis Stojko won the men’s title in 1997.

“It was absolutely awesome,” Salé said afterwards. “I was calm, and I enjoyed each moment because it can be overwhelming.”

“This is the best day of my life,” added Pelletier.

Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio claimed gold in ice dance. France’s Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat won silver and Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh took bronze.

The ISU World Figure Skating Championships would return to Canada in 2006 when Calgary hosted figure skating’s flagship event.

Day tickets for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020 are on sale now and can be purchased online at montreal2020.com, by phone at 1-855-310-2525 or in person at the Centre Bell Box Office.

2001 WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALLISTS

DISCIPLINE GOLD SILVER BRONZE
Men Evgeni Plushenko (RUS) Alexei Yagudin (RUS) Todd Eldredge (USA)
Ladies Michelle Kwan (USA) Irina Slutskaya (RUS) Sarah Hughes (USA)
Pairs Jamie Salé / David Pelletier (CAN) Elena Berezhnaya / Anton Sikharulidze (RUS) Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo (CHN)
Ice Dance Barbara Fusar-Poli / Maurizio Margaglio (ITA) Marina Anissina / Gwendal Peizerat (FRA) Irina Lobacheva / Ilia Averbukh (RUS)

Worlds Rewind: Edmonton 1996

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As the countdown to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020 in Montreal, Quebec continues, we look back at previous world championships staged in Canada. Part 7 of the ten-part series reflects on the 1996 edition of the event in Edmonton.

The eyes of the skating world were on two-time defending champion Elvis Stojko as the 1996 ISU World Figure Skating Championships rolled into Edmonton, Alberta.

Skating on home soil, Stojko had an entire country step on to the ice with him as he went in search of a worlds three-peat at Northlands Coliseum.

It wasn’t to be.

A stumble in the short program dropped the native of Richmond Hill, Ontario, into seventh spot and facing an uphill battle heading into the final night of competition.

But Stojko wasn’t going to be dethroned without a fight.

On an unforgettable night of free programs that had the crowd of over 15,000 constantly on its feet, Stojko made a spirited run for the podium but came up just short, finishing in fourth spot.  American Todd Eldridge took home the gold medal, just in front of 18-year-old Russian Ilia Kulik. Rudy Galindo of the United States held off Stojko for bronze.

“That was the best skating by the most people I have ever seen,” said four-time world champion Kurt Browning after the dramatic evening had concluded.

Stojko called the evening “magical, inspiring and energetic.”

“That was one of my best skates,” he added. “The crowd was unreal. The whole thing was unreal.”

After back-to-back top-10 finishes at the world championships, Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz earned their first worlds medal in Edmonton. The duo claimed a bronze medal, finishing behind Russians Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov (gold) and Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov (silver).

It was Canada’s first ice dance medal at the world championships since Tracy Wilson and the late Rob McCall won bronze eight years earlier.

“The skate in itself felt wonderful,” Bourne told reporters. “And how the crowd reacted, and how it all just ended with a medal on top of it was so overwhelming. It’s hard to put words to it.”

The finish was the first of four consecutive bronze medals at the world championships for Bourne and Kraatz. They would also claim silver in 2002 before winning the world crown in 2003.

Teenage sensation Michelle Kwan of the United States claimed her first world championship in Edmonton. After China’s Lu Chen laid down a flawless long program which included two perfect 6.0 marks for presentation,  Kwan knew she would have to be near perfect to win the world title. After doubling her triple toe, one of her seven planned triple jumps, Kwan replaced her double axel with another triple toe late in the program. Kwan also received two perfect presentation marks, and six of the nine judges gave her the edge over Chen.

Following her triumph in Edmonton, Kwan would go on to medal at the next eight world championships, including four more wins.

Russians Marina Eltsova and Andrey Bushkov won the pairs title, with both Canadian entries finishing inside the top 10. Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz placed seventh followed by Michelle Menzies and Jean-Michel Bombardier in eighth.

As the world championships closed out in Edmonton, Canada would once again welcome the world in 2001, when Vancouver hosted figure skating’s flagship event.

Day tickets for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020  are on sale now and can be purchased online at montreal2020.com, by phone at 1-855-310-2525 or in person at the Centre Bell Box Office.

1996 WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALLISTS

DISCIPLINE GOLD SILVER BRONZE
Men Todd Eldredge Ilia Kulik Rudy Galindo
Ladies Michelle Kwan Chen Lu Irina Slutskaya
Pair skating Marina Eltsova / Andrei Bushkov Mandy Wötzel / Ingo Steuer Jenni Meno / Todd Sand
Ice dancing Oksana Grishuk / Evgeni Platov Anjelika Krylova / Oleg Ovsyannikov Shae-Lynn Bourne / Victor Kraatz

Worlds Rewind: Ottawa 1984

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As the countdown to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020 in Montreal, Quebec continues, we look back at previous world championships staged in Canada. Part 5 of the ten-part series reflects on the 1984 world championships in Ottawa.

For Canadian pair legends Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini, it was a world title that almost wasn’t.

As the 1984 ISU World Figure Skating Championships returned to Ottawa from March 20-25 – just six years after the nation’s capital hosted the 1978 edition of the event – Underhill and Martini, coming off a disappointing seventh place showing at the Sarajevo Olympic Winter Games weeks earlier, considered taking a pass on the home world championships.

“We came home very disappointed from the Olympics, very down,” admitted Martini at the time. “I don’t think anyone can appreciate how far we’ve come in the past two weeks. We came very close to not coming here at all.”

The decision to compete ended up being a wise one.

Energized by a rousing pro-Canadian crowd of more than 10,000 at the Ottawa Civic Centre, Underhill and Martini trailed Olympic and defending world champions Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev after the short program but delivered a flawless long program to dethrone the Soviet Union team and become the first Canadians to win a world championship since Karen Magnussen captured the women’s crown in 1973.

“After Sarajevo, skating wasn’t fun anymore, added Underhill. “We went to the rink because we had to, because people here had paid money to see us. But we didn’t want to.”

In the men’s competition, the growing rivalry between American Scott Hamilton and Canadian Brian Orser continued to evolve. Coming off a gold medal in Sarajevo – where Orser won silver – Hamilton captured his fourth straight world championship, with Orser once stepping up to the second step on the podium.

Riding a wave of momentum from the Sarajevo Olympics, the legendary British ice dance tandem of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean made sure the ice dance competition in Ottawa was a mere formality. Their dazzling Boléro free dance, which earned unprecedented perfect 6.0 scores for artistic impression from all nine judges in Sarajevo, is widely regarded as one of the most iconic in figure skating history, and Torvill and Dean did not disappoint in Ottawa as they cruised to their fourth straight world title. Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall, whose career would be highlighted by seven Canadian titles, three world bronze medals and an Olympic bronze, placed sixth in Ottawa.

Katarina Witt of East Germany, fresh off a gold medal performance in Sarajevo, won her first of four ladies’ world titles, with Anna Kondrashova of the Soviet Union earning silver and American Elaine Zayak taking home bronze. Kay Thomson was the top Canadian, finishing in fifth.
Canada would next host the world championships in 1990, when Halifax welcomed the world to the Maritimes.

Day tickets for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020  are on sale now and can be purchased online at montreal2020.com, by phone at 1-855-310-2525 or in person at the Centre Bell Box Office.

1984 WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALLISTS

DISCIPLINE GOLD SILVER BRONZE
Men  Scott Hamilton  Brian Orser  Alexander Fadeev
Ladies  Katarina Witt  Anna Kondrashova  Elaine Zayak
Pair skating  Barbara Underhill / Paul Martini  Elena Valova / Oleg Vasiliev  Sabine Baeß / Tassilo Thierbach
Ice dancing  Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean  Natalia Bestemianova / Andrei Bukin  Judy Blumberg / Michael Seibert

Worlds Rewind: Vancouver 1960

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As the countdown begins to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020 in Montreal, Quebec, we look back at previous world championships staged in Canada. Part 2 of the ten-part series reflects on the 1960 world championships in Vancouver.

Canada played host to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships for the first time in 1932, when Montreal welcomed the world’s best skaters.

In 1960, it was Vancouver’s turn.

The beautiful Canadian Pacific coast hosted the event from March 1-5, 1960 and, like Montreal 28 years earlier, the world championships came on the heels of an Olympic Winter Games, which were staged in Squaw Valley, California. Many athletes competed at the Olympics before travelling north to Vancouver.

These worlds also marked the first time a country could qualify a maximum three skaters in each discipline, a rule that still applies today.

Donald Jackson

In the men’s competition, French skaters took two of the three spots on the podium, with Alain Giletti winning gold and Alain Calmat earning bronze. Canada’s Donald Jackson, coming off a bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games, claimed his second straight worlds silver in Vancouver. Jackson, one of Canada’s greatest figure skaters in history and a member of the Skate Canada Hall of Fame, would go on to win gold at the 1962 world championships, where he became the first skater in history to land the triple Lutz in international competition.

Carol Heiss of the United States, the 1960 Olympic champion, captured her fifth consecutive world title in Vancouver, finishing ahead of Sjoukje Dijkstra of the Netherlands and fellow American Barbara Roles. Both Heiss and Canada’s Jackson were coached by Pierre Brunet in New York City, and Jackson lived with the Heiss family when training.

Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul

The legendary Canadian pairs tandem of Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul, fresh off becoming the first North American pair team to win a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games, secured their fourth consecutive world crown in Vancouver. The Canadian brother/sister tandem of Maria Jelinek and Otto Jelinek won silver while Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler of West Germany took bronze. Debbi Wilkes and Guy Revell of Canada, who would go on to win two Canadian titles and the 1964 Olympic silver medal, were 11th in Vancouver.

Doreen Denny and Courtney Jones of the United Kingdom captured ice dance gold for the second straight year, with Canada’s Virginia Thompson and William McLachlan taking silver. Christiane Guhel  and Jean Paul Guhel of France edged out Americans Margie Ackles and Charles Phillips for the bronze medal.

As the 1960 world championships came to a close, no one could have foreseen the tragedy that would befell the entire skating world just one year later. On February 15, 1961, Sabena Flight 548 crashed on approach to Zaventem Airport in Brussels, Belgium, killing all 72 people on board, and one person on the ground. The entire U.S. figure skating team was on board the flight, as well as coaches, officials and family members, on their way to the 1961 world championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Among the victims were several who competed in Vancouver, including Laurence Owen (ladies), Bradley Lorde and Gregory Kelley (men), Ila Ray Hadley and Ray Hadley, Jr. (pair) and Maribel Owen and Dudley Richards (pair).  Ice dancers Larry Pierce and Roger Campbell, who competed with different partners in Vancouver, were also killed.

The ISU World Figure Skating Championships would return to Canada in 1972, when Calgary played host for the first time.

All-event tickets for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020  are on sale now and can be purchased online at montreal2020.com, by phone at 1-855-310-2525 or in person at the Centre Bell Box Office.