Featured Article Summary #86

The 2025 World Figure Skating Championships took place from March 26 to 30 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The event is organized under the International Skating Union (ISU) and is widely seen as the sport’s most prestigious competition. Medals were awarded across four disciplines: men’s singles, women’s singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Results also helped determine how many skaters each federation could send to the 2026 Winter Olympics. Ilia Malinin of the United States won the men’s title, while Alysa Liu won the women’s title. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won pairs for Japan, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates won ice dance for the United States. The World Figure Skating Championships are the sport’s most prestigious competition. The 2025 event took place from March 26 to 30 at TD Garden in Boston, just under two months after the Potomac River mid-air collision that killed multiple junior skaters and coaches from the Skating Club of Boston. At the start of the competition, a ceremony honored those who died, attended by ISU president Jae Youl Kim, family members, Boston-area officials including Governor Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu, and members of the Skating Club of Boston. Defending champion Ilia Malinin entered as the clear favorite after an unbeaten season, dedicating his performance partly in honor of friends and training partners he lost in the Potomac crash. He said his main rival is himself, focusing on pushing his own limits. Yuma Kagiyama faced uncertainty after an inconsistent season, while Adam Siao Him Fa dealt with ankle injury issues and simplified his technical program. Mikhail Shaidorov, recently dominant at Four Continents and strong at new jump combinations, also looked to contend. In the lead-up to the women’s event, there was no obvious favorite. Kaori Sakamoto struggled during the season and said she was not fully ready for the World Championships, while Isabeau Levito returned from a foot injury and Amber Glenn remained the strongest, winning nearly everything. Kim Chae-yeon, coming off major wins at Four Continents and the Asian Winter Games, was also expected to medal, and Alysa Liu returned after a two-year break, saying the season was difficult but lighter once she could skate with enjoyment. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps won major events in 2024 but then had setbacks, including withdrawing from the Grand Prix Final when Deschamps fell ill and suffering a back injury at Four Continents after a practice fall. On a brighter note, Stellato-Dudek became a Canadian citizen, which means the pair can compete for Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara struggled with inconsistent side-by-side jumps, while Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin built on strong form by winning both the Grand Prix Final and the 2025 European Championships, and Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii rebounded to claim wins at the 2024 Cup of China and a second-place finish at the 2024 Grand Prix de France.