2023 Figure Skating World Championships (Preview)

With the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships starting in (*checks watch*) 14 minutes, I wanted to put my predictions on record, so that we can all look back and either laugh at how accurate or wrong I was.

This year has been an up and down year for figure skating, more so than other years. While all figure skating fans can agree that the ban on Russian athletes made competitions more fair and more unexpected, not having that level of technical content, plus the downswing from the Olympics from retirements, meant that many competitions were a bit ~lackluster~.

But hopefully this season can end with a (figurative) bang this week in Saitama, Japan.

In the pairs discipline, it will be a question of whether Alexa can power through in her quest for another gold medal, or whether the Japanese pair can pull out their first win. This competition also starts with a bit of a cloud overhead, since the US-based coach Todd Sand is still in critical condition following his heart attack at the Junior World Championships at the beginning of March. Many fans are hoping that this ongoing tragedy will fuel Alexa and Brandon, inspiring them to win for their beloved coach who couldn’t come with them.

My Pairs Predictions:

Gold: Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier (USA)

Silver: Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN)

Bronze: Sara Conti/ Niccolo Macii (ITA)

This will be the first men’s competition in quite awhile with neither Yuzuru Hanyu or Nathan Chen in the running for the gold. Shoma Uno has spent much of this season in the top spot, coming out ahead of “quad god” Ilia Malinin at the grand prix final. Will his skating skills help him retain gold this week? Or will Ilia’s quad jumps, particularly the quad axel, serve him better, despite lower quality skating skills? As always, the men’s competition is perhaps the most unpredictable, with results dependent on the outcome of such difficult, quad-driven technical content. Whatever way the results shake out, most viewers are tuning in to see the spectacular Jason Brown. We have been so blessed that Jason has stuck around in the sport after the 2022 Olympics, and I have no doubt that his skating will once again be the highlight of this competition, like they were at US Nationals in January.

My Mens Predictions:

Gold: Shoma Uno (JPN)

Silver: Ilia Malinin (USA)

Bronze: Jason Brown (USA)

This will be the second Women’s World competition without an onslaught of Russian teenagers, which fills me with a sense of peace. Kaori Sakamoto will be defending her title, but while her programs have been such a step forward this season, her jump inconsistency might impact her results. Her fellow Japanese competitor, Mai Mihara, will be looking to continue her winning streak from Japanese Nationals to challenge for the gold here in her home country. And the bronze is anyone’s guess- will the USA’s Isabeau Levito win with her balletic skating? Will Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx find the power and consistency that has alluded her this season? Or will one of the fabulous Korean skaters pull out a clean program? Time will tell...

My Womens Predictions:

Gold: Mai Mihara (JPN)

Silver: Kaori Sakamoto (JPN)

Bronze: Yelim Kim (KOR)

The Ice Dance competition might be the source of the most drama this week. Both USA’s Chock/Bates and Canada’s Gilles/Poirier head to Japan for what will be a crowning for one and devastation for the other. Both teams have stuck around following post-olympic retirements for the shot at this gold medal. While Chock/Bates' season did not start off strongly, Piper and Paul’s training has been interrupted these past few months by an appendectomy. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, and how close these final results are.

My Dance Predictions:

Gold: Chock/Bates (USA)

Silver: Gilles/Poirier (CAN)

Bronze: Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen (CAN)