ISU World Championships 2023 - Saitama, JPN - March 20-26

[Elizabeth]

The official website (English version: https://www.wfc2023.jp/eng/index.html

As national championships are finishing, countries are naming their teams for Worlds. The deadline for submitting them to the ISU is February 27th.

The entries, by discipline, will be posted here: https://results.isu.org/events/fsevent00113613.htm

Skaters/couples participating in the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2023 must have reached the following Minimum Total Elements Scores during the ongoing season (2022/23) or the immediately preceding season (2021/22) in an ISU-recognized international competition:

• MEN
  34.00 SP
  64.00 FS
• WOMEN
  32.00 SP
  53.00 FS
• PAIR SKATING
  29.00 SP
  46.00 FS
• ICE DANCE
  33.00 RD
  49.00 FD

[Elizabeth]

According to an Instagram post from the Ice Palace Figure Skating Club, Conrad Orzel, who trains there, has been assigned to Worlds by Skate Canada, filling the "TBD" spot that was left open after Canadians.

[kittykins]

According to an Instagram post from the Ice Palace Figure Skating Club, Conrad Orzel, who trains there, has been assigned to Worlds by Skate Canada, filling the "TBD" spot that was left open after Canadians.

Congratulations to Conrad! It is certainly well deserved. I remember that Conrad is Elvis Stojko's favourite and he said that Conrad gets the highest "pop" before landing his jumps compared to other Canadian skaters (at one time anyway).

[Elizabeth]

The Skate Canada assignments document has now been updated to include Conrad: https://skatecanada.ca/2023/01/skate-ca ... pionships/

2023 ISU WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS
SAITAMA, JAPAN – MARCH 20-26, 2023

Pair
Brooke McIntosh / Benjamin Mimar
Lia Pereira / Trennt Michaud
Deanna Stellato-Dudek / Maxime Deschamps

Ice Dance
Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Nikolaj Soerensen
Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier

Men
Keegan Messing
Conrad Orzel

Women
Madeline Schizas

I expect that when they are officially submitted to the ISU there will be some alternates named.

[Elizabeth]

The entries (and alternates), by discipline, for Worlds have now been posted: https://results.isu.org/events/fsevent00113613.htm

Men: https://t.co/lGz2I9piNp


Women: https://t.co/pHyj9kUET3


Pairs: [url]https://t.co/L4rhbJjf8F[/url]


Ice Dance: https://t.co/Zfy4n3dAI1

[Elizabeth]

A Worlds preview interview with Mark Hanretty will be available on YouTube on March 17th


The link: https://t.co/e91tSgx2DH

As I understand it, Mark will be commentating on the ISU live stream of Worlds.

[Elizabeth]

Skate Canada press release on the CDN team going to worlds: https://skatecanada.ca/2023/03/canadian ... pionships/

Canadian Athletes Ready to Shine in Japan at 2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships®
March 13, 2023/by Skate Canada

OTTAWA, ON (February 13, 2023) – Thirteen Canadian athletes are gearing up for the biggest competition of the year after a standout season that saw senior skaters win 35 medals on the international stage. The ISU World Figure Skating Championships®, scheduled to take place from March 20-26, 2023, in Saitama, Japan, will feature one woman, two men, two ice dance teams and three pair teams.

Two-time national champion and Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist Madeline Schizas will be competing in the event for the third time and will be the sole skater to represent Canada in the women’s category.

The competition will mark the end of an era for two-time Olympian Keegan Messing who will be competing at his final World Championships after a long and illustrious career. The 2023 national champion recently scored a career-best at the 2023 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships®, earning his first silver medal at the event. He will be joined by National Team member and Canadian Tire National Skating Championships silver medalist Conrad Orzel.

In the pair discipline, Grand Prix de France gold medalists Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps will have their sights set on the podium following another breakthrough performance at the 2023 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships®. 2022 NHK Trophy bronze medalists Brooke McIntosh & Benjamin Mimar will be competing alongside them, as well as the newly formed team of Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud who placed third at nationals and fourth at the 2023 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships®.

Canadian ice dance teams are returning in full force, with Grand Prix Final gold medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier leading the way. The duo will be competing for the first time since overcoming an injury earlier this year. They will be among the favourites after winning both of their Grand Prix assignments this season. 2023 national champions and Grand Prix finalists Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen will also be top contenders in this category.

The competition kicks off on Wednesday, March 22, with the pair and women’s short programs, followed by the pair free program and men’s short program the following day. On Friday, ice dancers will tackle the rhythm dance, while the women’s medals will be awarded. The event concludes on Saturday, March 25 with the free dance and men’s free program.

More details on the individual skaters can be found in the press release.

[Elizabeth]

An interview with Lia & Trennt done in February - it's interesting to read as they prepare to head to Worlds: https://figureskatersonline.com/news/20 ... ect-match/

Another interview, done on March 15th: https://www.goldenskate.com/2023/03/per ... son-debut/

[Elizabeth]

An article shared by Skate Canada about Sr. Pair competitor, Brook MacIntosh and her sister Summer, a skating star. https://olympics.com/en/news/canadian-s ... ing-canada

[Elizabeth]

The ISU has posted a "trailer" for Worlds on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFgVAwVltvc

There are no links yet to the competition events.

[Elizabeth]

Focused on the present, Gilles and Poirier eye 2023 ice dance world title as figure skating future remains uncertain

In their 11th season together, Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier have been golden - winning three Grand Prix titles. But their momentum was interrupted by Gilles' appendicitis.

Read the full article/interview here: https://olympics.com/en/news/piper-gill ... re-skating

[Elizabeth]

A preview with suggestions on "who to watch" next week: https://olympics.com/en/news/isu-world- ... ters-watch

The world champs are set for 22-26 March in Saitama, Japan, with the host nation in the running for three of four gold medals on offer. See who is set to compete - and a full schedule of action.

[Elizabeth]

Jackie Wong (RockerSkating) is now in Japan and will be attending the practices which begin tomorrow. He'll be posting updates on twitter and on his website. He has already posted his Women's preview there: https://www.rockerskating.com/

Meanwhile, there has been a withdrawal in the Men's event according to this announcement from the Hungarian Federation:

[Elizabeth]

As one of the McIntosh sisters is preparing to make her Worlds debut, the other is competing very successfully in the swimming pool - an in-depth article on them: https://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry ... kable-bond

The McIntosh sisters lean on family to reach their Olympic-sized potential

A behind-the-scenes look at the lives of teens Brooke and Summer, who are already turning heads in their respective sports

[Elizabeth]

Practices are underway in the main rink (below) and the practice rink.





In the Men's 1st practice, Keegan was the only skater on the ice from his group. Afterward he gave these comments to Golden Skate in the mixed zone:

“It feels amazing to be here, I really enjoyed myself this morning to skate in front of the people who came out here this morning.
The success at #4ContsFigure showed me what I am capable off. But I will keep my goal which is showing the best possible performance I can every time. Because that‘s what you can controll. Jumps can sometimes be off but you can always give the best performance wise!
After 4 Conts I also thought that it‘s maybe not yet time to hang up my skates but I “felt” my age right after. Additionally my priorities changed. My kids changed me! These two events (Worlds and WTT) now are the last time when I will put myself first, after that it’s family first!
It feels a bit full circle to end my career in Japan. As my great-grandfather was the first Japanese immigrant to Canada back in the days.”

He also revealed that on his mom’s side the family’s maiden name used to be “Uno” and he still want to do some family tree digging to see if he and Shoma might somehow are 4th or 5th cousins!

[Elizabeth]

The Entries/Start Orders/Results page is now posted but has not been "populated": http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2223/wc2023/



The links for the individual events have now been posted on the ISU YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SkatingISU

Pairs SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PtoWJ-mDMM
Women SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgGv92n4SWI
Pairs FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn9h6mCB6S0
Men SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tS6MtTHM10
Rhythm Dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7LNQ2J74oI
Women FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPVa5AmzCJ8
Free Dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3VXyjVzNf8
Men FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjOK2U4xIjQ

I understand that Mark Hanretty and Belinda Noonan will be the commentators for the event.

NOTE - the competition begins on Tuesday evening in EDT due to the time difference.

The CBC streaming schedule shows the times in EDT for me and are copied below but should show your local times: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/streaming-sch ... %20Skating
Tuesday March 21 - 9:45 p.m. - ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Pairs Short Program
Wednesday March 22 - 2:41 a.m. - ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Women's Short Program
Wednesday March 22 - 9:51 p.m. - ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Pairs Free Program
Thursday March 23 - 2:41 a.m. - ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Men's Short Program
Thursday March 23 - 9:51 p.m. - ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance Rhythm Dance
Friday March 24 - 4:11 a.m. - ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Women's Free Program
Friday March 24 - 11:21 p.m. - ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance Free Dance
Saturday March 25 - 4:11 a.m. - ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Men's Free Program
Sunday March 26 - 2:00 a.m. - ISU World Figure Skating Championships: Gala

As posted earlier, the CBC Sports TV coverage will be limited to Saturday and Sunday afternoon with the Gala scheduled to be broadcast on April 1st.

[Elizabeth]

As was reported on 3Turn3 last week, Maddie Schizas has scrapped her West Side Story FS and gone back to her Madame Butterfly FS from last year. This has been confirmed by Jackie Wong (RockerSkating) in his practice notes from Worlds.

Jackie's preview of the Men: https://t.co/DiejSQxHmN

Posters on display around the venue promote the members of the Japanese team.

[Elizabeth]

There are reports from the Men's practices that Eteri Tutberidze is at Worlds, together with Daniil Gleikhengauz and Sergei Dudakov, accompanying Daniel Grassl, Morisi Kvitelashvili and Nika Egadze.

This is the "mixed zone" press with Shoma Uno after a practice


Fuji TV gave Ilia Malinin a "quadg0d" hat in Japanese (he uses that "label" as his social media name)


Jason Brown has been in Japan for 3 weeks performing in shows but is happy to be reunited with Brian and Tracy at Worlds



The practice rink



Nice to see Piper and Paul on the practice ice


Some comments from them:

Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier say Piper's "fully recovered" after appendectomy (on 19 Dec).

"We feel confident, we feel ready." Add that break feels helpful in a way: "If anything we feel less tired than usual."

Been back on the ice training in full since early Feb.

[Elizabeth]

A worldwide time conversion chart for Worlds

[Elizabeth]

Start orders for the first day of competition:

Pairs SP (10 p.m. EDT Tuesday)


Women SP (2:50 a.m. EDT Wednesday)

[Elizabeth]

Jackie Wong & Mark Hanretty met up at Worlds practices - they will be on opposite sides of the rink during the event, apparently.


Belinda Noonan & Mark Hanretty pose in the Kiss 'n Cry as they prepare to begin their commentating duties

[Elizabeth]

An important note - on the start orders, if you click beside a skater or team, their planned content is shown. You can also open their ISU biography page by clicking on their name(s).
Check out the Pairs SP start order to see these features: http://www.isuresults.com/results/seaso ... ta0303.htm

Example:


There are also detailed time details for each event that can be downloaded for information (they are in local time, i.e. Japan).
Here is the link for the detailed schedule for the Pairs SP: http://www.isuresults.com/results/seaso ... me0303.pdf

[Elizabeth]

For some reason the links for the ISU YouTube streams have now been removed - we are not supposed to be geoblocked but, for the moment, it appears that we are.

The live streams via the CBC can be found here: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/wint ... -1.6783937

I am very disappointed about this unexpected geoblocking - both for the Pairs SP and the Women SP. I have become very used to watching the ISU YouTube stream on my 50" TV but had to resort to the 17" laptop instead. After a couple of groups of the Pairs SP, I figured out how to access the CBC stream on my smart TV, even without owning a smart phone. Frustration is sometimes the "mother of invention", I guess.

CBC Sports player now has links for each of the upcoming events at Worlds: https://www.cbc.ca/player/sports/figure%20skating
They add links to the videos once the events are completed - e.g. Pairs SP: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2185275459934

[Elizabeth]

The start order for the Men SP

[kittykins]

I am very disappointed about this unexpected geoblocking - both for the Pairs SP and the Women SP. I have become very used to watching the ISU YouTube stream on my 50" TV but had to resort to the 17" laptop instead. After a couple of groups of the Pairs SP, I figured out how to access the CBC stream on my smart TV, even without owning a smart phone. Frustration is sometimes the "mother of invention", I guess.

Frustrating indeed!!! I am not very familiar with the Smart TV and I'm so glad you figured it out. Does the TV have an HD port so you can plug your laptop into the TV? That's what I do with a regular TV, but I realize it's a completely different arrangement...(thinking I'll stick with my present TV & cable). The other sounds complicated, although cheaper in the long run with the high cost of cable.

I saw the beginning of the Pairs SP (so glad I saw the first Canadian pair!!) and the end of the Ladies' SP (sorry I missed groups 4 & 5). I'm just going to watch the Pairs now and will just re-start at the beginning. We have a snowstorm here yet again and I'm annoyed as I have to pick up something I forgot to do yesterday (of course the weather was wonderful then). Thanks for all the links Elizabeth. This week will be interesting with the time difference, haha. Fortunately we will probably both be in attendance IN PERSON next year.