Saitama, Japan

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Shoma Uno (JPN) claimed his second World title to cap off a successful event for Japan, as competition concluded at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships on Saturday in Saitama (JPN) with the Men’s Free Skating. 

Shoma Uno (JPN) overcomes the odds to skate to gold

Shoma Uno of Japan overcame an injury to win his second consecutive World title on home ice. Junwhan Cha made history again for Korea by earning silver, the first World medal for a Korean man while “quad God” Ilia Malinin (USA) collected the bronze. 

Uno looked shaky in the morning practice and struggled with his jumps, after injuring his ankle recently, but when it was his time to take the ice in front of the sold-out Saitama Super Arena, he pulled himself together and delivered. 

Shoma Uno GOLD 

Shoma Uno (JPN) takes gold in the Men’s Program in the World Championships at Saitama © ISU

The ISU Grand Prix Final Champion opened his classical program to “Air on the G String” and “Sanctus Petrus Et Sancta Maria Magdalena” with a solid quad loop. He landed a quad flip, and two triple Axels and got a level four for his spins and footwork. However, he slightly underrotated two quad toes and stepped out of an underrotated quad Salchow. Nevertheless, Uno won the Free Skating with 196.51 points and racked up 301.14 points. 

"Honestly, I’m just happy that in both short program and free skating I did better than I expected,” the two-time Olympic medalist said. 

“Today’s performance was far from perfect, but I put out everything I can do at this moment. There were many shaky jumps today, but I’m happy I was able to get a good result despite not being in a good condition these past two weeks. 

“I know I caused a lot of concern to everyone around me, but I was able to pay them back and show my gratitude with my performance today,” said Uno.

“Whenever we have an international competition in Japan I don't do so well, but this is the very first time I was able to get a good result, so I am very happy about that,” he continued. 

“Coming into this competition I thought about a lot of things, including the road ahead from here on. I don't know what kind of figure skating I will be doing, but I know this will pave the way for the future.”

Cha ranked third following the Short Program and knew he had a chance to become the first Korean man on the World podium, but he was as cool and collected as the James Bond character that he portrayed in his program.

 

Cha Silver

Junhwan Cha (KOR) takes silver in the Men’s Short Program at Saitama (JPN) © ISU

He pulled off a quad Salchow, quad toe, two triple Axels, as well as his trademark triple Lutz-triple loop combination and three more triple jumps. His spins and footwork were rated a level four. 

The 2022 ISU Four Continents Champion scored a personal best of 196.39 points for a total of 296.03 points and moved up one spot.

“It was amazing, and I really enjoyed it and I was really focused on my skating,” Cha told the press. “I just wanted to do what I trained today, and I think it came out, so I’m very happy about that. 

“It’s an honor to be the first male skater, as a Korean skater, to get a (World) medal.” He acknowledged that he did not feel under too much pressure after sitting in third after the Short Program. “I just didn’t think about the result.”

Performing to “Euphoria”, Malinin hit the quad Axel right out of the gate – and he is still the first and only Skater to have landed it successfully in competition. 

  

Ilia bronze

Ilia Malinin (USA) takes bronze in the Men’s Program at Saitama (JPN) © ISU

The 2022 World Junior Champion went on to complete a clean quad Salchow and quad toe-triple toe and a triple Lutz-triple Axel sequence. However, the US Champion slightly underrotated three more quads.

Malinin ranked third in the Free Skating on 188.06 points and slipped from second to third at 288.44 points.

“I’m just very grateful for the performance I was able to put out,” the 18-year-old said. “I put so much effort and work into the last couple of weeks and I’m glad I was able to pull it off.

“I’m very shocked about how I progressed through this whole season. I was just not expecting that, but I think I could be very proud of myself for working a lot through these last couple of weeks, and I’m very grateful that I delivered.”

Kevin Aymoz (FRA) came fourth with an emotional and strong performance to “Gladiator”, fighting his way back into the top group of Skaters (282.97 points). Jason Brown (USA) turned in another flawless performance to “The Impossible Dream” to place fifth on 280.04 points. Kazuki Tomono (JPN) pulled up from seventh to sixth at 273.41 points. 2023 ISU Four Continents silver medalist Keegan Messing (CAN) slipped from fourth to end his long and illustrious career in seventh place (265.16 points).  

Skaters/Couples need to have obtained a minimum total technical score in Short Program and Free Skating in order to compete at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

 

Following the IOC recommendation and in order to protect the integrity of ice skating competitions and for the safety of all the participants of international ice skating competitions, the ISU Council based on Article 17.1.q)i) of the ISU Constitution, agreed that with immediate effect and until further notice, no Skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) shall be invited or allowed to participate in International ice skating competitions including ISU Championships and other ISU Events. The same applies to Officials listed in the respective ISU Communications and/or Regulations under Russia and Belarus (see ISU Communication 2469).

 

Schedule of the event

The schedule of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships is as follows:


Wednesday, March 22:            Pairs & Women’s Short Programs
Thursday, March 23:               Pairs Free Skating & Men’s Short Program
Friday, March 24:                     Rhythm Dance & Women’s Free Skating
Saturday, March 25:                Free Dance & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, March 26:                   Exhibition Gala

For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official website. Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldFigure and #FigureSkating. 

 

Where to watch the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2023:

The ISU World Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list on the Where to Watch webpage here.

Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.