Protocol of Marks

Worlds Medal Count

Figure Skaters from Russia and Belarus are currently banned from international competition.

China required its athletes to quarantine after the Winter Olympic Games, and chose not to send any skaters Worlds as they were unable to train during quarantine.

Russian Absence from Worlds Opens Up Medal Possibilities

(5 March 2022)  With skaters from Russia (and Belarus) suspended from international competition and China not entering any skaters in the World Championships, medal opportunities open up in four disciplines, and the chances of some countries to earn three entries for 2023 greatly improve.  In the case of China, all their skaters who competed at the Winter Games were placed into a three week Covid quarantine after the games, and due to the lost training time will not be in condition to compete at Worlds.

In the Women's event, the first, second and fourth place finishers from Beijing will not be at worlds.  This make Kaori Sakamota (JPN) the favorite for gold, and puts Alysa Liu (USA) within striking distance of a medal.  Japan could well end up one-two among the women.  Both the U.S. and Korea are also now in good position to earn three entries for 2023, where that seemed unlikely if the Russian women were competing.

As the Russian men were not contenders at Beijing, their absence from Worlds would not appear to impact the medal possibilities.  The  biggest question is whether Nathan Chen (USA) will actually skate at Worlds.  If he chooses not too, Jason Brown (USA) is first alternate, though he also was ambiguous in Beijing on whether he would compete at Worlds.  Second alternate for the U.S. is Jimmy Ma.  Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) will also not be competing at Worlds.  That opens up medal opportunities for Junwan Cha (KOR) and Daniel Grassl (ITA).

(15 March 2022) Due what is described as a "nagging injury"  Nathan Chen withdrew from the 2022 World Championships.  He was replaced by third alternate Camden Pulkinen."

Ilia Malinin (USA) who was third at 2022 U.S. Nationals, but was not named to the U.S. Olympic Team, earned his minimum technical score to compete at Worlds at the Challenge Cup in The Hague, Netherlands the last week of February.  There he scored 260.69 points, well below his score of over 300 points at U.S. Nationals.  Most likely, to make the podium at Worlds a skater will need at least 280-290 points.  If Chen and Brown both choose not to compete at Worlds, it is not clear the U.S. will have a strong enough team to earn three entries for 2023.  In that case, strong performances from Vincent Zhou (USA) and Malinin will be needed.

The pairs event at Worlds is shaping up to be a competition of the best of the mediocre.  Between them, China and Russia took the top five places in the pairs event in Beijing.  This puts the U.S. pair teams in the odd position of being contenders for two medals at Worlds, and also pretty much guarantees the U.S. will earn three entries for 2023.

Russia placed second, sixth and fourteenth at the Winter Games in Dance.  If the other entries from Beijing all compete at Worlds, that would make Gabrielle Papdakis & Guillame Cizeron (FRA) most likely to take the gold, and the U.S. silver and bronze.  Charlene Guignard &  Marco Fabbri (ITA) will have to find about 8 points somewhere to challenge for the Bronze.  The absence of the Russian dancers puts Canada in an improved position to earn three entries in dance for 2023.

U.S. Skaters Turn Their Attention to Worlds

Day 1

Women Short Program Opens World Championships

Pairs Short Program

Day 2

Men Short Program

Pairs Free Skate

Day 3

Dance Rhythm Dance

Women Free Skate

Day 4

Men Free Skate

Dance Free Dance

2022 World Champions