ISU

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan struck gold at the at the 2022 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier (FRA) on Friday, winning with almost 20 points to spare. Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx earned a historic silver medal for Belgium while newcomer Alysa Liu (USA) claimed the bronze in her World Championship debut.

Olympic Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France won Rhythm Dance at the 2022 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier (FRA) on Friday, setting a new record score en route. Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) came second ahead of their teammates Madison Chock/Evan Bates. All three teams achieved a personal best score.

Pair Skaters Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier (USA) claimed the first ISU World Pair Skating title for the USA since 1979 when striking gold at the 2022 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier (FRA) Thursday. Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) took silver, the highest finish in history for a Pair Skating team of Japan. Vanessa James/Eric Radford (CAN) earned the bronze.

Two-time Olympic medalist Shoma Uno led the Japanese Men to a sweep of the Men’s Short Program at the 2022 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier (FRA) on Thursday. 2022 Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama and Kazuki Tomono follow in second and third. All three Men set a new personal best for themselves in what was a high-level competition.

Pair Skaters Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier (USA) skated to the lead in the Pairs Short Program at the 2022 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier (FRA) on Wednesday.

Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) speeded to the lead in the Women Short Program at the 2022 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier (FRA) on Wednesday. Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx came second followed by Mariah Bell (USA).

Don’t miss any of the action from the season’s thrilling performances at the ISU Figure Skating Championships 2022, which will be streamed live to all fans on the ISU Skating YouTube Channel. Make sure to subscribe to receive live stream notifications. Some geo-restrictions will apply on YouTube, but if you find yourself unable to watch the stream, check out the channel in your territory to get access.

Olympic and World medallists, including Olympic Ice Dance Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France, headline the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier (FRA) March 21 to 27, 2022.

Japan’s Kana Muramoto/Daisuke Takahashi are unique in many ways and they have made Figure Skating history. They are the first Japanese Ice Dancers to win a silver medal at an ISU Championship when they came second at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in January. But that is not everything. Daisuke is a successful former single skater, an ISU World Champion, ISU Four Continents Champion and Olympic bronze medalist and he is the first World Champion single skater to make a comeback in Ice Dance.

Japan’s young star Yuma Kagiyama soared right to the top in his debut at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021, taking the silver medal. The now 18-year-old continued this season where he had left off and earned the silver medal at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN) and now is again a hot medal favorite for the upcoming ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2022 in Montpellier (FRA) from March 21-27.

It is not unusual that two successful Skaters from different countries team up to continue their career together, but it does not happen so often that two accomplished athletes come out of retirement to start from scratch. But this is exactly what Canadians Vanessa James and Eric Radford did and they returned on to the Olympic stage as “new” team that has been skating together for less than a year. James, 34, won the European title in 2019 and World bronze in 2018 with her former partner Morgan Ciprès, competing for France. Radford, 37, is the 2015 and 2016 ISU World Champion and 2018 Olympic bronze medalist with Meagan Duhamel, representing Canada. James competed in her fourth Olympic Games and Radford in his third and yet everything was different this time around. 

Newly minted Olympic Ice Dance Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France have been busy since coming home from Beijing. They still relive their Olympic experience, they perform in shows, meet the media and now are gearing up for another highlight: The ISU World Figure Skating Championships at home in France, in Montpellier (March 21-27).

When Ice Dancers Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue (USA) finished their Free Dance at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, they took it all in, savoring their moment on Olympic ice. The Skaters knew that it was their last competitive performance at the Olympic Games as they announced they will retire after this season. Beijing 2022 meant a lot to both of them and not just because they won the bronze medal.

Participating in the Olympic Games is the dream of each athlete and when it comes true for the first time, it is something very special, as Italy’s Daniel Grassl can confirm. “These were my first Olympic Games and everything was new. It was also very nice to live in the Olympic village,” the 19-year-old recalled. “Obviously, there were some restrictions because of Covid, but it was very well organized. I got a lot of experience.”

Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx belongs to the best Figure Skaters in the world and is the best female Skater her country ever had. She ranked fifth at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 and continued to do very well this season. She won bronze at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Gran Premio d’Italia in Turin, becoming the first female Skater from Belgium to earn a Grand Prix medal.