Who to watch at the figure skating world championships

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The World Figure Skating Championships are ever a large deal. And this year's edition, starting Wednesday successful Boston, carries much value than usual.

In summation to deciding this season's satellite champions (and metallic and bronze medallists), the adjacent 5 days of contention volition find however galore entries each state receives for the 2026 Winter Olympics successful Italy.

We'll get into however that works later. But first, let's look astatine who to watch.

Canadians to watch

Last twelvemonth successful Montreal, the pairs squad of Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps thrilled the adoring crowd by capturing Canada's archetypal fig skating satellite rubric since 2018, portion crystal dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier earned a metallic for their 3rd worlds medal successful 4 years.

These 2 duos stay Canada's apical medal contenders this week successful Boston, and that volition apt beryllium the lawsuit for the Olympics too.

Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps started this play strong, winning some of their Grand Prix assignments successful the fall. More bully quality came successful December erstwhile the Chicago-born Stellato-Dudek finally became a Canadian citizen, clearing the mode for the Montreal nonmigratory to vie for Canada astatine the Olympics (citizenship requirements for different planetary skating events are little stringent).

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But wellness issues person dogged them since then. A Deschamps unwellness forced them retired of the Grand Prix Final successful December, and their preparations for past month's Four Continents championships were affected erstwhile Stellato-Dudek took a hard autumn successful signifier and severely bruised her backside. A unsmooth abbreviated programme enactment the Canadians down the 8 shot earlier they rebounded with their champion escaped skate of the play to climb to the silver behind 2023 satellite champs Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan.

You could chalk those wellness setbacks up to atrocious luck. But property is simply a interest with this squad arsenic Stellato-Dudek turns 42 successful June and Deschamps volition beryllium 34 by the clip the Olympics rotation around. While Stellato-Dudek remains successful singular signifier for her (or any) property aft becoming the oldest pistillate ever to triumph a fig skating satellite title, Father Time is, arsenic they say, undefeated.

Gilles and Poirier are the premier Canadian crystal dancers of the post-Virtue and Moir era. They've won 4 consecutive nationalist titles (excluding their lack successful 2023, erstwhile Gilles was recovering from country for ovarian cancer) and reached the podium astatine the satellite championships successful 2021 (bronze), 2023 (bronze again) and 2024 (silver).

Though they didn't decorativeness amended than seventh successful their 2 Olympic appearances, Gilles and Poirier won the prestigious Grand Prix Final 2 seasons ago. They took golden and metallic successful their 2 regular Grand Prix events this play earlier finishing 5th successful the Final aft Poirier tripped connected the boards during their abbreviated program. But the Canadians repeated as Four Continents champions past month, narrowly defeating reigning satellite champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States.

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Canada has different coagulated crystal creation squad successful Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, who finished 5th astatine past year's worlds and conscionable took bronze astatine the Four Continents for the 2nd time. The different Canadian crystal dancers competing this week are Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer, who are making their worlds debut.

Two different tandems volition articulation Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps successful the pairs event. Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud finished eighth astatine the 2024 worlds and took bronze astatine this year's Four Continents for their first-ever medal astatine an planetary title (albeit 1 closed to Europeans). Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier were 15th astatine past year's worlds.

While Canada qualified the maximum 3 entries successful some the pairs and crystal dance, it has conscionable 1 skater successful each of the singles events — and neither of them are expected to contend for a medal. Madeline Schizas placed 18th successful the women's contention astatine past year's worlds, portion Roman Sadovsky was 19th successful the men's.

Internationals to watch

Japan's Kaori Sakamoto volition effort to go the archetypal skater successful 65 years to triumph 4 consecutive women's satellite titles. She started the play by winning some of her regular Grand Prix assignments but lone managed a bronze astatine the Final arsenic American Amber Glenn — besides a treble victor connected the tour — took the gold.

In the men's event, American Ilya Malinin remains the feline to bushed aft winning his archetypal satellite rubric past year. The present 20-year-old Quad God nailed an astonishing six of them successful the escaped skate successful Montreal (including his signature quad axel, which nary 1 other has ever landed successful competition) to contradict Shoma Uno of a three-repeat and nonstop the Japanese prima into retirement. Malinin swept his Grand Prix events this season, including his 2nd consecutive Final victory.

In pairs, the challengers for Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps' rubric see the aforementioned Miura and Kihara of Japan, who were the satellite champs successful 2023 and metallic medallists past year; and Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, who took bronze astatine the Montreal worlds and are the back-to-back Grand Prix Final champions.

In the crystal dance, Gilles and Poirier volition effort to halt Chock and Bates from capturing their 3rd consecutive satellite rubric aft upsetting the American joined mates astatine the Four Continents. Chock and Bates besides mislaid to Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson connected location crystal astatine the Skate America Grand Prix but went connected to triumph their 2nd consecutive Final.

How Olympic qualification works

Each state is allowed up to 3 entries successful each lawsuit (women's, men's, pairs and crystal dance) astatine adjacent year's Winter Olympics successful Italy. Without getting into each the ins and outs of the arcane Olympic quota system, here's what that means for Canada:

* In the pairs and crystal dance, wherever Canada has 3 teams each successful Boston, lone the apical 2 Canadian results volition number toward Olympic qualification. If those 2 placings adhd up to 13 oregon little (for example, a third-place decorativeness and a 10th), Canada earns 3 Olympic spots. If the sum is 14 oregon higher, it gets two. In the improbable lawsuit that the sum is higher than 28, Canada lone gets 1 spot.

* In the men's and women's events, which person conscionable 1 Canadian each this week, Canada needs a top-10 decorativeness to person 2 Olympic spots. Otherwise, it volition get conscionable one.

Also, retrieve that Canadian skaters cannot straight suffice themselves for the Olympics astatine these worlds. The nationalist governing assemblage volition grant its spots to circumstantial athletes pursuing the Canadian championships adjacent January.

How to watch

You tin drawback each skate unrecorded connected CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Here's the full streaming schedule:

Wednesday — Women's abbreviated programme astatine 12:05 p.m. ET, pairs abbreviated astatine 6:15 p.m. ET.

Thursday — Men's abbreviated astatine 11:05 a.m. ET,  pairs escaped astatine 6:15 p.m. ET.

Friday — Ice creation bushed creation astatine 11:15 a.m. ET, women's escaped astatine 6 p.m. ET.

Saturday — Ice creation escaped astatine 1:30 p.m. ET, men's escaped astatine 6 p.m. ET.

Sunday — Exhibition gala astatine 2 p.m. ET.

The CBC TV web volition broadcast further sum of the worlds connected Saturday from 3-6 p.m. ET and Sunday from 2-4 p.m. successful your section clip zone.

For much connected the worlds, watch this preview from CBC Sports' That Figure Skating Show.