Boston will play host to the World Figure Skating Championships for the first time in 2016. The last US city to host was Los Angeles in 2009.
It is the third major skating competition Boston has hosted since 2013, including the Synchronized Skating Championships in April 2013 and the US Championships in January 2014.
Ashley Wagner, who finished fourth at the US Championships in 2014, will be out for redemption when she makes her return to TD Garden.
Dates: Wednesday, March 30 to Sunday, April 3
Where: TD Garden
TV: NBC will air Saturday’s events, the rest is TBD.
Tickets: All-events tickets can be purchased here. Single-session tickets can be purchased here.
Advertisement
| Date | Event | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monday, March 28 | Practices | TBA |
| Tuesday, March 29 | Practices | TBA |
| Wednesday, March 30 | Short Dance | 10 a.m.-3:17 p.m. |
| Opening Ceremonies | 5-5:45 p.m | |
| Men's Short Program | 6-10:56 p.m. | |
| Thursday, March 31 | Ladies Short Program | 12:15-5:53 p.m. |
| Free Dance | 7:30-10:49 p.m. | |
| Friday, April 1 | Pairs Short Program | 1:15-4:46 p.m. |
| Men's Free Skate | 6:45-10:52 p.m. | |
| Saturday, April 2 | Paris Free Skate | 12:54-3:53 p.m. |
| Ladies Free Skate | 7-10:55 p.m | |
| Sunday, April 3 | Exhibition of Champions | 2-4:15 p.m |
Defending champions
Men’s singles: Javier Fernández (Spain)
Women’s singles: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (Russia)
Pairs: Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (Canada)
Ice dancing: Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron (France)
| Country | Men | Ladies | Pairs | Ice dancing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Denis Margalik | None | None | None |
| Armenia | Slavik Hayrapetyan | Anastasia Galustyan | None | Tina Garabedian-Simon Proulx-Senecal |
| Australia | Brendan Kerry | Kailani Craine | None | None |
| Austria | None | Kerstin Frank | Miriam Ziegler-Severin Kiefer | Barbora Silna-Juri Kurakin |
| Belarus | None | None | Tatiana Danilova-Mikalai Kamianchuk | Viktoria Kavaliova-Yurii Bieliaiev |
| Belgium | Jorik Hendrickx | None | None | None |
| Canada | Patrick Chan, Liam Firus | Alaine Chartrand, Gabrielle Daleman | Meagan Duhame-Eric Radford, Julianne Seguin-Charlie Bilodeau, Lubov Iliushechkina-Dylan Moscovitch | Kaitlyn Weaver-Andrew Poje, Piper Gilles-Paul Poirier, Elisabeth Paradis-Francois-Xavier Ouellette |
| China | Jin Boyang, Yan Han | Li Zijun, Zhao Ziquan | Sui Wenjing-Han Cong, Wang Xuehan-Wang Lei, Yu Xiaoyu-Jin Yang | Wang Shiyue-Liu Xinyu |
| Chinese Taipei | None | Amy Lin | None | None |
| Czech Republic | Michal Brezina | Eliska Brezinova | None | Cortney Mansour-Michal Ceska |
| Denmark | None | None | None | Laurence Fournier Beaudry-Nikolaj Sorensen |
| Finland | None | Viveca Lindfors | None | Cecilia Torn-Jussiville Partanen |
| France | Chafik Besseghier | Mae-Berenice Meite, Laurine Lecavelier | Vanessa James-Morgan Cipres, Lola Esbrat-Andrei Novoselov | Gabriella Papadakis-Guillaume Cizeron |
| Germany | Franz Streubel | Nathalie Weinzierl | Aliona Savchenko-Bruno Massot | Kavita Lorenz-Panagiotis Polizoakis |
| Israel | Oleksii Bychenko | None | Adel Tankova-Evgeni Krasnopolski | Isabella Tobia-Ilia Tkachenko |
| Italy | Ivan Righini | Roberta Rodeghiero | Nicole Della Monica-Matteo Guarise, Valentina Marchei-Ondrej Hotarek | Anna Cappellini-Luca Lanotte, Charlene Guignard-Marco Fabbri |
| Japan | Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno | Satoko Miyahara, Mao Asada, Rika Hongo | Sumire Suto-Francis Boudreau-Audet | Kana Muramoto-Chris Reed |
| Kazakhstan | Denis Ten | Elizabet Tursynbayeva | None | Anastasia KhromovaDaryn Zhunussov |
| Latvia | Deniss Vasiļjevs | Angelina Kucvalska | None | Olga Jakushina-Andrey Nevskiy |
| Lithuania | None | Aleksandra Golovkina | Goda Butkute-Nikita Ermolaev | None |
| Malaysia | Julian Zhi Jie Yee | None | None | None |
| Netherlands | None | Niki Wories | None | None |
| Norway | None | Anne Line Gjersem | None | None |
| Philippines | Michael Christian Martinez | None | None | None |
| Poland | None | None | None | Natalia Kaliszek-Maksym Spodyriev |
| Russia | Maxim Kovtun, Mikhail Kolyada | Evgenia Medvedeva, Elena Radionova, Anna Pogorilaya | Tatiana Volosozhar-Maxim Trankov, Ksenia Stolbova-Fedor Klimov, Evgenia Tarasova-Vladimir Morozov | Victoria Sinitsina-Nikita Katsalapov, Alexandra Stepanova-Ivan Bukin |
| Slovakia | None | Nicole Rajicova | None | Federica Testa-Lukas Csolley |
| Slovenia | None | Dasa Grm | None | None |
| South Korea | Lee June-hyoung | Choi Da-bin, Park So-youn | None | Rebeka Kim-Kirill Minov |
| Spain | Javier Fernandez, Javier Raya | Sonia Lafuente | None | Celia Robledo-Luis Fenero |
| Sweden | Alexander Majorov | Joshi Helgesson | None | None |
| Switzerland | None | Yasmine Yamada | Ioulia Chtchetinina-Noah Scherer | None |
| Turkey | None | None | None | Alisa Agafonova-Alper Ucar |
| Ukraine | Ivan Pavlov | Anna Khnychenkova | None | Oleksandra Nazarova-Maksym Nikitin |
| United Kingdom | Phillip Harris | Kristen Spours | None | Penny Coomes-Nicholas Buckland |
| United States | Max Aaron, Grant Hochstein, Adam Rippon | Polina Edmunds, Gracie Gold, Ashley Wagner | Tarah Kayne-Daniel O'Shea, Alexa Scimeca-Chris Knierim | Madison Chock-Evan Bates, Madison Hubbell-Zachary Donohue, Maia Shibutani-Alex Shibutani |
| Uzbekistan | Misha Ge | None | None | None |
| Event | Short Program/Short Dance | Free Skate/Free Dance |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 34 | 64 |
| Ladies | 27 | 47 |
| Pairs | 25 | 43 |
| Ice dance | 29 | 39 |
| Event | Time | Required elements |
|---|---|---|
| Men's Short Program | No longer than 2:50 | Double or triple Axel Paulsen; triple or quadruple jump immediately preceded by connecting steps and/or other comparable free skating movements; jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump or two triple jumps or a quadruple jump and a double jump or a triple jump; flying spin; camel spin or sit spin with only one change of foot; spin combination with only one change of foot; step sequence fully utilizing the ice surface. |
| Men's Free Skate | 4:30, +/- 10 seconds | Maximum of 8 jump elements (one of which must be an Axel type jump); maximum of 3 spins, one of which must be a spin combination, one a flying spin or a spin with a flying entrance and one a spin with only one position; maximum of 1 step sequence; maximum of 1 choreographic sequence. |
| Ladies' Short Program | No longer 2:50 | Double or triple Axel Paulsen; triple jump immediately preceded by connecting steps and/or other comparable free skating movements; jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump or two triple jumps; flying spin; layback or sideways leaning spin; spin combination with only one change of foot; step sequence fully utilizing the ice surface. |
| Ladies' Free Skate | 4:00, +/- 10 seconds | Maximum of 7 jump elements (one of which must be an Axel type jump); maximum of 3 spins, one of which must be a spin combination, one a flying spin or a spin with a flying entrance and one a spin with only one position; maximum of 1 step sequence; maximum of 1 choreographic sequence. |
| Event | Time | Required elements |
|---|---|---|
| Short Program | No longer than 2:50 | Any hand to hand lift take-off (Group Four); twist lift (double or triple); throw jump (double or triple); solo jump (double or triple); pair spin combination with only one change of foot; death spiral backward outside; step sequence fully utilizing the ice surface. |
| Free Skate | 4:30, +/- 10 seconds | Maximum of 3 lifts, not all from Group Five, with full extension of the lifting arm/s; maximum of 1 twist lift; maximum of 2 different throw jumps; maximum of 1 solo jump; maximum of 1 jump combination or sequence; maximum of 1 solo spin combination; maximum of 1 pair spin combination; maximum of 1 death spiral different from the death spiral of the Short Program; maximum of 1 choreographic sequence. |
| Event | Time | Required elements |
|---|---|---|
| Short Dance | 2:50, +/- 10 seconds | 1 short lift; 1 partial step sequence in hold; 1 set of sequential twizzles; 2 sections of Ravensburger Waltz skated one after the other. |
| Free Dance | 4:00, +/- 10 seconds | Maximum of 3 lifts; maximum of 1 dance spin; maximum of 2 step sequences (one from group A, one from group B); maximum of 1 twizzle; maximum of 1 choreographic element. |
Scoring
There are two scoring panels: technical panel and judging panel. There are two scores: technical score and presentation score.
The technical panel reviews and scores each required element in a routine. With the help of instant replay, an assistant, and a controller, the technical specialist then assigns each element a base value.
Those base values are passed off to the judging panel, which is usually made up of nine judges and a referee. The judging panel determines a grade of execution from -3 to +3 for each element. A trimmed mean — deducting the highest and lowest scoring before taking an average — is then used to determine a final score for the element before getting added to the base value given by the technical panel. The sum of each element score yields the technical score.
The judging panel also scores from one to 10 other program components such as skating skill, transitions and footwork, performance, choreography, and interpretation and timing. A trimmed mean is used to determine the average, which is then multiplied by a predetermined factor based on the event. The sum is the presentation score.
Advertisement
Judges can deduct points for music or costume violations. The referee deducts all other point violations.
The sum of the technical and performance scores is the final score.
Read more about the ISU’s Judging System here.
| Violation | Point deduction |
|---|---|
| Program time | 1.0 for every 5 seconds lacking or in excess |
| Illegal element/movement | 2.0 per violation |
| Costume and prop | 1.0 per program |
| Part of the costume falls on ice | 1.0 per program |
| Fall | Singles: 1.0 per fall; Pairs and Dance: 1.0 for every fall by one partner and 2.0 for every fall by both partners |
| Late start | 1.0 for start between 1 and 30 seconds late |
| Interruption | 10-20 seconds: 1.0; 21-30 seconds: 2.0; 31-40 seconds: 3.0 |
| Choreography restrictions | 1.0 per program |
| Extra elements* | 1.0 per violation |
| Music requirements* | 2.0 per program |
| Tempo specifications* | 1.0 per program |
| Dance lift exceeding permitted duration* | 1.0 per dance lift |
Music
Competitors must submit their music on a CD or MP3 at registration and include a backup. The length of the music, the competitor’s name and country must also be included. The volume of the music during practice or competition can’t exceed “85-90-dB Sound Pressure Level in any part of the arena,” according to the ISU.
Follow Rachel G. Bowers on Twitter @RachelGBowers.