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March 22–28 2021

OFFICIAL ISU SPONSORS

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The ISU World Figure Skating Champion- ships 2021 at the Ericsson Globe Arena start with a spectacular opening ceremony on ice on the evening of March 24. HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden will inaugurate the Championships. The opening ceremony itself is divided into four separate themes. The first is challenging in terms of choreography and technique and is about challenging our fears and never giving up. The second features two solo skaters who find them-selves in a dream world filled with love.  The third theme is about community. Multiple sources of light combine to create a visually beautiful whole. Solo-ist Lovisa Svensson sings the national anthem. The ceremony culminates with a big rock number filled with love, warmth, and a message of good luck

for all competitors in the World Cham-pionships. The ceremony is produced by choreographer and artistic director Albin Boudrée. For Boudrée, who has competed in figure skating at elite level, this is a dream come true.  “This is huge and I’m incredibly excited. Figure skating has always been a big part of my life and to be responsible for the opening ceremony of the World Champi-onships is an unbelievable honour.”Cermony choreographic assistant is Melanie Kajanne Källström. The ceremony will also include speeches by Anna König Jerlmyr, Mayor of Stockholm, Helena Rosén Andersson, President of the Swedish Figure Skating Association, and Jan Dijkema, President of the International Skating Union.

Crown Princess Victoria opens Stockholm2021

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On behalf of the International Skating Union, it is a great pleasure for me to extend a warm welcome to all of you at the 2021 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm, Sweden.  This memorable edition will be a spectacle full of exciting and breath- taking performances. I would like to wish everybody at the venue and fans from all over the world, who follow the event through the media, a very joyful experience.  One year ago, we could not imagine that our lives would change in so many ways. The COVID-19 pandemic has a huge impact, and the far-reaching consequences have also been felt strongly in the ice skating community. However, it was essential for the ISU to find creative ways and offer skaters

and fans international competitions again in a safe way. Therefore, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to everyone who has contributed to this major ISU Event. Compliments go to Swedish Figure Skating Association, the Organizing Committee, the officials and the many volunteers who have worked hard to make the Championships a success. I also extend my gratitude to the media and the sponsors for their interest in our beautiful sport.  Last but not least, I wish the skaters a great deal of success after a very difficult year. Together we get #UpAgain.

On behalf of the Swedish Figure Skating Association, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Championships will unfortunately be held behind closed doors. The safety of the skaters, their teams and officials are our top priority. This means that figure skating fans from all around the world will instead watch the world’s best figure skaters and their fight for medals on TV.  In light of this, I believe it is important that we strive to create happiness and a sense of shared experience through figure skating at the very highest level during the difficult times that the whole world currently faces. The Champion- ships will therefore, also this year, be an event that the entire figure ska-ting world can gather around, albeit in a slightly different way than during

normal times. For me personally, it is just wonderful to see the world elite compete again. I myself was a flower girl at the 1976 World Championships in Gothenburg and had the privilege of presenting flowers to gold medallist John Curry. This time, it will be Sweden’s 14th World Figure Skating Championships and it is a great honour for us to once again host one of the world’s biggest winter sports events. It is particularly encouraging that interest in figure skating in Sweden is growing. Over the past two years or so, membership of the Swedish Figure Skating Association has increased by 24 per cent. I am convinced that the Championships will increase the inte-rest in figure skating even more, both in our country and globally. So, let’s all get ready to enjoy the world’s best figure skating of 2021!

Welcome! Dear Figure Skating Friends,

Jan Dijkema, ISU President

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Helena Rosén Andersson,President of the Swedish Figure Skating Association

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On behalf of the Organizing Commit-tee, it is my pleasure to welcome you all to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021.

It is a great honour and pleasure to have Crown Princess Victoria open the Championships here at the Ericsson Globe Arena.  The Swedish Figure Skating Associ-ation has been working closely with The International Skating Union to host the ISU World Figure Skating Champi-onships 2021. The health and safety of participants is our number one priority and something we have focused on extensively.  The Organizing Committee and its associates have worked extremely hard to provide the best possible conditions for all participants in these challenging circumstances.

I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to the International Skating Union for putting their trust in Sweden to host this event and for their support in planning these Championships. The team that made these World Championships possible include many volunteers from all across Sweden and I would like to thank them for all their time and effort. I would also like to thank The City of Stockholm for their excellent support and cooperation.  Finally, I hope you will enjoy the exciting competitions we have ahead of us! We are delighted to be your hosts in Stockholm!

Good luck with the competitions and welcome back to Stockholm!

It gives me great pleasure, together with the people of Stockholm, to welcome everyone in the figure skating family to Stockholm and to the Ericsson Globe. We are especially proud that Stockholm, together with the Swedish Figure Skating Association, is hosting a World Figure Skating Championships. The last time we hosted one was 74 years ago, in 1947. Major sports competitions and championships unite people all over the world. Sport serves as a powerful inspiration for movement and exercise that supports a healthy, happy lifestyle – which is especially important now during the pandemic. A World Figure Skating Championships also provides excitement and entertainment that

we all have the chance of being part of with the televising of the competition. We hope that your stay in Stockholm during the championships will create many wonderful sporting memories, great competition, and that in the future you will have the opportunity to see more of our beautiful city. Stockholm is known for its openness and diversity. It is a place where everyone is equally welcomed and praised. Stockholm is close to nature and highly urban. It is one of Europe’s top hubs for innovation in tech, fashion, music, film, design, gaming, and other creative industries. Again, we really hope that you will be able to experience Stockholm when the time is right. Good luck in the championships and welcome back!

Ulrika Molin President of the Organizing Committee Anna König Jerlmyr

The Mayor of Stockholm

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Stockholm is widely regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful cities, built where lake meets sea, on fourteen islands, with eight centuries of history and culture to choose from.  Stockholm is a ground breaking, welcoming and innovative trendsetter.

Fashion, technology, music, film, design and the game industry thrive here like never before.  It is a place where creativity grows, and where dreams and new ideas are realized. But most of all– A city open for everyone!

Welcome to join Stockholm for the Worlds 2021!

 Ericson Globe is part of the largest event district in Northern Europe and one of the most modern multi arenas in the world, awarded ”Venue of the Year” in 2014. The arena is home arena of both Hammarby football and Djurgården football as well as hosting mega artists as Avicii, The Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake, Madonna and many more.  The event district around the Tele2 Arena with the sister arenas Hovet and Annexet also includes hotels, restau-rants, offices and shopping facilities and is served by excellent connections to the public transportation system that we hope you can explore one day in Stockholm. Next time you visit Stockholm we hope you have some time to explore the local city life in the streets and restaurants. Stockholm has experien-ced a culinary boom the last couple of years. Now everything, it seems, revolves around food. New venues are opening one after another. Stockholm also offers unique and famous attrac-

tions as one of Europe’s best preserved medieval city centers to Fotografiska, the world’s largest meeting place for contemporary photography, or the Vasa Museum, the most visited museum in Scandinavia or ABBA the Museum filled with music.  Stockholm is a vibrant and creative city loving sports and events, and we are really proud to host the World Championships in Figure Skating 2021!  Welcome to join Stockholm for the Worlds 2021!  For more information and inspiration on Stockholm please visit: www.visitstockholm.com

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ISUInternational Skating Union

ISUEvent Officials

Council

President:Jan Dijkema – Netherlands 1st Vice President Figure Skating: Alexander Lakernik – Russia

2nd Vice President Speed Skating: Tron Espeli – Norway

Figure Skating: Patricia St. Peter, USATatsuro Matsumura – JapanMaria Teresa Samaranch – SpainMarie Lundmark – FinlandBenoit Lavoie – Canada

Speed Skating: Stoytcho G. Stoytchev – BulgariaSergio Anesi – ItalyJae Youl Kim – Republic of KoreaRoland Etienne Maillard – SwitzerlandSuwanna Silpa-Archa – Thailand

Director General: Fredi Schmid – Switzerland

Treasurer: Ulrich Linder – Switzerland

Legal Advisors: Michael Geistlinger – AustriaBéatrice Pfister – Switzerland

Figure Skating Sports Director: Charles Z. Cyr – USA

Speed Skating Sports Director: Hugo Herrnhof – Italy

ISU Representative: Jan Dijkema

ISU Medical Advisor: Joel Shobe

ISU Event Coordinator: Wieland Lüders

ISU Event Coordinator Assistant: Julia Degenhardt

MenReferee:Philippe Meriguet Technical Controller: Leena Laaksonen Technical Specialists: Konstantin Kostin Filip Stiller-Borowicz

LadiesReferee: Fabio Bianchetti Technical Controller: Emilie Billow Technical Specialists: Vera Vandecaveye Sandor Galambos

PairsReferee: Yukiko Okabe Technical Controller: Vera Tauchmanova Technical Specialists: Troy Goldstein Sarkis Tewanian

Ice DanceReferee: Hilary Selby Technical Controller: Halina Gordon-Poltorak Technical Specialists: György Elek Ayako Higashino

Agita AbelePia AlhonenInger AnderssonJulia AndreevaAlmila Arikan SarbanogluSviatoslav BabenkoRonald BeauLenka BohunickaClaudia BrambatiJosip CerovacDan ChenSalome ChigogidzeLudwig CzoczekLisa DavidsonFrancoise de RappardAndrea DerbyWendy Enzmann

Elena FominaTomie FukudomePeggy GrahamKatarina HenrikssonGarry HoppeFeng HuangMarketa HorklovaKerstin KimminusOlga KozhemyakinaMarcin KozubekLaimute KrauzieneMatjaz KrusecAnthony LeroyElisabeth LouesdonKristina LundgrenHelle LyngbergAnastassiya Makarova

Jennifer MastIryna MedvedievaChristiane MilesMiroslav MisurecRon ConacherDavid MunozRoland MäderMarta OlozagarreMassimo OrlandiniTineke PosnoKatharina RauchChihee RheeStanislava SmidovaUrsula StahlYu Wang

Data / Replay Operators: David Santee, Soltan Kokoev

Judges

Technical Committees

Single & Pair SkatingChairperson: Fabio Bianchetti – ItalyMembers: Yukiko Okabe – JapanRita Zonnekeyn – BelgiumLeena Laaksonen – FinlandSusan Lynch – AustraliaAppointed Skater: Fedor Klimov – RussiaAppointed Coach: Patrick Meier – Switzerland

Ice DanceChairperson: Halina Gordon-Poltorak – PolandMembers: Shawn Rettstatt – USAHilary Selby – Great BritainGyörgy Elek – HungaryAppointed Skater: Alper Uҫar – TurkeyAppointed Coach: Maurizio Margaglio – Italy

Synchronized SkatingChairperson: Philippe Maitrot – FranceMembers: Petra Tyrbo – SwedenLois Long – USAUliana Chirkova – RussiaAppointed Skater: Roberta Giuliani – ItalyAppointed Coach: Cathy Dalton – Canada

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Organizing CommitteePresident:Ulrika Molin

Event & Technical Manager: Peter Levin

Accommodation Manager: Sofia Borg

Communication Manager: Anna Cedergren

Competition Manager: Camilla Fredman

Financial Manager: Kaj Nyman

Food & Beverage Manager: Johanna Holmudd

Health & Safety Manager: Tove Lindqvist

Hospitality & Partner Manager: Anna Magnusson

Legal Adviser: Björn Sahlin

Press Officer: Fredrik Pallin

Volunteer Manager: Olivia Skoog

Accreditation: Marianne Hogner

Announcers: Susanne Seger

Arena Construction: Pasi Rönkkö

Ceremonies: Cathrine SvenssonAlbin Boudrée

Event Appearance/Decoration: Cathrine Svensson

Hygiene & Safety: Ulrika LjungdahlJohan Ljungdahl

Judges Service & Skating Lounge: Carina Kelly

Logistics: Leif KronkvistJohan Lundberg

IT:Lars Rambäck

Medical: Helen KarlssonAnnette Rödström

Music:Berit WestinAnna Häägg

Printing Office:Gunilla Ödlund

Rink Coordination: Laila Davidsson

Transportation: Mona Friedman

Volunteers: Anna Wärdell

Volunteer Service: Camilla Bergström

City of Stockholm: Anette CraasAnnika Malhotra

Stockholm Live: Åsa SandströmJonas Andersson

The Ericsson Globe is the largest spherical building on Earth.

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Wenjing Sui&Cong Han – CHN. The two-time World Champions are looking to win a third gold medal here. However, it will be their first major international competition this season, after missing out on the Grand Prix Cup of China in November due to Han’s hip surgery.  This artistic and stunningly powerful team is known for amazing comebacks

from injuries, and are hoping to make this their kick start for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Sui and Han teamed up in 2007 without having pre-vious pair experience. They are both inspired by Olympic Champions Xue Shenand Hongbo Zhao and started skating after watching them compete in the 2002 Olympic Games. Hongbo Zhao is now their coach.

Evgenia Tarasova&Vladimir Morozov – FSR. This experienced Russian couple have three World Championship medals (two silver, one bronze). They are also two-time European champions (2017 and 2018) and were fourth at the Winter Olympics in 2018.  Like many other athletes, they have had their 2020/2021 season disrupted by illness, but have managed to come

back very strong and won the Russian Nationals in December against tough competition. Look out for their triple twist, when Morozov throws Tarasova high in the air before catching her. Tarasova and Morozov teamed up in 2012 after their respective coaches sug-gested the move. Tarasova competed at the international junior level in singles before switching to pairs in 2010.

PRESENTATION OF SELECTED COMPETITORS: PAIRS

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Aleksandra Boikova&Dmitrii Kozlovskii – FSR. Despite their young age, this team managed to win the European Championships in 2020 in their second senior season, in a discipline where it usually takes many years to reach the top. They also took bronze at the Euro-pean Championships in 2019, and sixth place at the World Championships the same year. By pairing explosive tricks

with grace, they have become true con-tenders at the world level. This season they won the Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup during the fall, and they are hoping for their first World Championship medal here. Boikovaand Kozlovskii teamed up in November 2015, both were single skaters. Coach Artur Minchuk competed at the international junior level in pair skating.

Cheng Peng&Yang Jin – CHN. Slowly but surely this immensely talented cou-ple have come closer to the top, by ska-ting with flow and ease and a beautiful sense for the music and choreography. They missed out on a World Cham-pionship medal in 2019 by a narrow margin in, finishing fourth, but have taken both silver and bronze at the Four Continents Championships. They

have also shown strong results in the few competitions that have been held this season, so they are to be consi-dered medal contenders. Peng and Jin teamed up following the 2015/16 season. He is the 2014 and 2015 World Junior Champion with former partner Xiaoyu Yu. Coach Hongbo Zhao is the 2010 Olympic Champion, with partner Xue Shen.

PRESENTATION OF SELECTED COMPETITORS: PAIRS

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Skater outside Stockholm City Hall.

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Anna Shcherbakova – FSR. The two- time Russian Champion has an impres-sive ability to combine difficult quadru-ple jumps, such as the Lutz and the Flip, with graceful and artistic skating. There is always a lightness about her skating that is wonderful to watch.   This will be her debut at the World Championship, but she already has a great level of maturity in her skating. In 2020, she won the silver medal at the European Championship, and the year before that, she took silver at the Junior World Championships. The Muscovite is also a three-time National Champion of Russia. In December 2020, she won the Nationals despite losing plenty of training due to illness. Shcherbakova turns 17 on Sunday March 28th.

Alexandra Trusova – FSR. She has made history on numerous occasions, becoming the first woman to land a quadruple Lutz (2018) and a quadruple Flip (2019) in competition, at a very young age. She is as well the first woman to land a quadruple Toeloop as well as two quadruple jumps (Toeloop and Salchow) in one program in competition (at the World Junior Championships 2018).  Trusova displays athletic and power-ful skating and has a bronze medal from the European Championships, as well as two gold medals from the World Junior Championships. Coach Evgeni Plushenko is a two-time Olympic Champion (2006 and with the team 2014) as well as two-time Olympic silver medalist (2002, 2010).

PRESENTATION OF SELECTED COMPETITORS: LADIES

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Rika Kihira – JPN. With her beautiful triple Axel and smooth skating skills, Kihira has become a force to be reckoned with. She is the first woman to land a triple Axel-triple Toeloop combination in competition (at the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in December 2017).  She is the reigning two-time Four Continents Champion, and won the Japanese Nationals in December against many strong competitors. In 2019, Kihira came incredibly close to a medal at the World Championships, landing in fourth place, only 0,31 points behind the bronze. Coach Stephane Lambiel is the 2005 and 2006 World Champion and 2006 Olympic silver medalist, representing Switzerland.

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva – FSR. This lady has made the comeback of all comebacks. She won both the World Championships and the European Championships in 2015, but after that, she had to face very tough competition in Russia, with ladies performing elements the world had not seen ever before. But Tuktamysheva never gave up. Instead, she has learned to jump the rare and valuable triple Axel, while also developing her characteristic style and personality. At 24 years of age, she is more experienced than many of her competitors, but probably just as hungry for a medal. This season, she won the Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup, and has shown good form prior to the World Championships.

PRESENTATION OF SELECTED COMPETITORS: LADIES

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Yuzuru Hanyu – JPN. Although he has won two back-to-back Olympic gold medals, Hanyu keeps pushing himself to improve. He is the first Japanese male skater to win Olympic gold and the first man since 1948 and 1952 Olympic Champion Dick Button (USA) to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals. He is the first skater to perform a clean quadruple Loop in competition (2016).  His massive fanbase loves him for his ability to execute spectacular programs with flow and ease, and his jumps can seem unreal in their sheer perfection. Hanyu has two World Championship titles from 2014 and 2017 and has contributed significantly to the choreo-graphy of his programs in the 2020/21 season.

Nathan Chen – USA. Since the Olympic Games in 2018, Nathan Chen has not lost one single competition. The two- time World Champion is known as the “quad king”, for his ability to consistently land numerous quadruple jumps with breathtaking quality.  He became the first skater to perform five quadruple jumps in one free skating (quad Lutz, Flip, Salchow and two quad Toeloops at the U.S. National Championships and Four Continents Championships in 2017). A year before, he became the first skater to land four quads in one free program. What is extra impressive, is that despite this incredibly difficult technical content, Chen keeps developing his artistry to a new level each season.

PRESENTATION OF SELECTEDE COMPETITORS: MEN

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Shoma Uno – JPN. Shoma Uno is especially loved for his amazing ska-ting skills, speed across the ice, and deep knee bend, especially in his jump landings. He won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in 2018 and has two silver medals from previous World Championships (2017, 2018). He is also the 2019 Four Continents Champion, and a four-time Japanese Champion. Uno went to the ice rink for fun with his father when he was five years old and liked skating immediately. He looks up to 2010 World Champion Daisuke Taka-hashi. Uno switched coaches in 2019 and has relocated to Switzerland for training. Coach Stephane Lambiel is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist and the 2005 and 2006 World Champion.

Mikhail Kolyada – FSR. After sitting out the 2019/2020 season due to sinusi-tis, the artistically immensely talen-ted Kolyada has made an impressive comeback this season. With beauti-ful programs and a much-improved consistency in the jumps, the World Championship bronze medalist from 2018 has mesmerized figure skating audiences at numerous competitions. Kolyada is a silver medalist in the Team Event at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games and has two bronze medals from the European Championships (2017, 2018). He is the first Russian skater to perform a quadruple Lutz in international competition (2017) and got married to former competitive figure skater Daria Beklemisheva in July 2019.

PRESENTATION OF SELECTED COMPETITORS: MEN

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Viktoria Sinitsina&Nikita Katsalapov – FSR. It has been a disrupted season for the reigning European Champions and 2019 World Championship silver medalists from Russia. After winning the Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup in No-vember both contracted covid-19 and had to withdraw from competing at the Russian National Championships. Even so, the couple known for their graceful

flow and long beautiful lines will be looking for a podium finish at these World Championships. Sinitsina and Katsalapov teamed up in spring 2014.  Sinitsina is the 2012 World Junior Champion with former partner Ruslan Zhiganshin, while Katsalapov is the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist and Olympic gold medallist in the team event with former partner ElenaI linykh.

Madison Hubbell&Zachary Donahue – USA. After not being happy with the 2019/2020 season, Hubbell and Donahue have had several successful competitions this season. The two-time World Championship medalists won both the Grand Prix Skate America in October 2020 and the US National Championships in January 2021, with their fluid, gorgeous and yet powerful

skating. This will be their seventh time at the World Championships. Hubbell and Donohue teamed up in spring 2011. Prior to that, Hubbell had competed success-fully with her brother Keiffer at the inter-national junior level. Hubbell and Do-nahue switched coaches and moved to Canada in 2015, and coaches Marie-Fran-ce Dubrueil and Patrice Lauzon are the 2006 and 2007 World silver medalists.

PRESENTATION OF SELECTED COMPETITORS: ICE DANCE

Madison Chock&Evan Bates – USA.This is another very strong team from the United States that can deliver mesmerizing performances and keep the audience at the edge of their seats.  Chock and Bates have a silver and a bronze medal from previous World Championships and have won the Four Continents Championships two times in a row (2019 and 2020). She suffered

a concussion during the summer that kept her off the ice for a month and the couple out of two competitions in the fall. Chock and Bates teamed up in spring 2011, and before that, they were both World Junior Champions with their previous partners. The team trains in Canada alongside Hubbelland Donahue with coaches Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon.

Alexandra Stepanova&Ivan Bukin – FSR.They are Russian Champions after a breathtaking performance at Nationals in December and will be looking for their first World Championship medal here. With their modern, innovative skating, Stepanova and Bukin have won several medals at the European Championships, and in 2019 they were less than two points away from the

podium at the 2019 World Champions-hips. Make sure to notice their speed across the ice, unison, and grace.  Stepanova and Bukin teamed up in 2006. She was a single skater before and moved from St. Petersburg to Mos-cow to take up ice dance. Bukin is the son of 1988 Olympic Ice Dance Champion Andrei Bukin, and his mother Elena Vasiuk was also an ice dancer.

PRESENTATION OF SELECTED COMPETITORS: ICE DANCE

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Josefin Taljegård. She keeps progres-sing in her figure skating career, with better results both in Sweden and internationally. Josefin Taljegård has a unique energy and charisma and has won her three Swedish Championship medals so far, one silver and two bronze. The season 2020/2021 has been Taljegård’s strongest to date, with many personal bests. But her career hasn’t been a straight path. In 2014, she decided to quit skating.

– I was injured, my body told me I needed to take it easier. I started studying at the university, lived the life of a normal student, and joined a theatre group, says Taljegård. After a while, however, she started to miss skating.– It is a special feeling to be on the ice, a feeling you can’t have anywhere else. I realized I was not finished; I had not achieved what I knew I could. What I like most about skating is performing, the fact that you are on a stage in front of a lot of people. It is such a thrill.

Nikolaj Majorov. The 20-year-old Swedish Champion Nikolaj Majorov will be representing his home country at the World Championships. His progres-sion over the last couple of years has been explosive, both when it comes to his high and powerful jumps and his energetic artistry. His international breakthrough came at the European Championship in 2020, where he finished in 15th place.Majorov is from a true figure skating family, where older brother Alexander Majorov gained several top ten finis-hes at Europeans and was 12th at the World Championships in 2018. Father Alexander Majorov senior is Nikolaj’s coach, and mother Irina Majorova is the choreographer.

– My brother is a big role model for me, as is my father. It was a natural step for me to start skating when I was young, says Majorov.  He is aiming to add quadruple jumps to his programs, where the Salchow is the main goal.

The Swedish National Team

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Absorbent towel 13 € Fleece 55 €

Knitted Beanie 20 €

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The official webshopExamples of what you can find in our webshop:

www.stockholm2021.se/webshop

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Illya Solomin. Illya Solomin has made an impressive comeback. After being a young and successful talent in his early teens, he is now back at a high interna-tional level at the age of 22. Last season he was very close to reaching the final of the European Championships, and he continues to develop both technically and artistically. He made his debut at the European Championship in 2014, at only 15 years of age.

– It was really exciting. I had never seen the skaters that participated there live before, like Javier Fernandez from Spain. And to be able to not only see them, but to compete against them, was great, says Solomin. It would be another six years before his next European Championship in 2020.– I had a tough time in some of those years, where I stopped competing due to injuries. When I came back it took a long time to prepare the mental strength I needed to compete. But I managed to perform a clean short program at the Europeans and proved to myself that I can still do it.

Anita Östlund. She has made it to the final at the European Championships three times in a row, and the two-time Swedish Champion has shown that she is one to watch. With the ability to pull off triple-triple combinations with ease, Östlund emerged as a big talent at an early age.

 The 20-year-old was born in Odessa, Ukraine and describes herself as competition-minded and stubborn.– I like to improve and always do my best. Technically the jumps are my strong suit, but I’ve also developed a lot artistically. This has made it easier for me to express my programs and find personal connec-tions to them, says Östlund. Because of the diversity in the sport of figure skating, there is always something to work on.– My goal is to keep getting better at all aspects of the sport. Even if I’ve raised the bar on my performing aspect, there are other things to think about too. I’ve focused a lot lately on skating my programmes, to stabilize all my elements.

Cassandra Johansson. This 21-year-old has shown impressive consistency in her triple jumps and is an establis-hed name at the top level of Swedish skating. She has achieved a gold medal at the junior level and two top five se-nior placements at the Swedish Cham-pionships, but Cassandra Johansson is aiming for the international champi-onships in the coming years. She says she has a tougher, more dynamic style than the average figure skater.

– I like to keep a high tempo, rather than aim to be elegant or graceful. Jumping and learning difficult tricks is what I like best, but also to learn new programs, says Johansson. Her programs are choreographed by Viktoria and Joshi Helgesson, who achieved some of Sweden’s best figure skating results in modern times, when they competed until 2015 and 2017 respectively.– I need to improve my edges and lines, and to be more precise and elegant, says Cassandra Johansson.

Matilda Algotsson. With two 13th place finishes at the European Champi-onships, this Stockholm native became one of Sweden’s most promising future hopefuls in figure skating. Matilda Algotsson has one gold and three other medals from the Swedish Champions-hips and uses her great musicality to wow the judges and the audience. The next step is to increase her consistency, she says.

– I want to continue to improve the tech-nical contents of my programs, like doing triple-triple combinations more frequent-ly. And of course, I am hoping to compete in more championships.  Matilda Algotsson looks up to skaters like Carolina Kostner, Ashley Wagner, and Satoko Miyahara. She describes herself as a person with mixed traits.– I can be very focused and precise at times, but more absent-minded in others. I’m a Gemini which might explain some of it to whoever is interested in astrology and zodiac signs, she says with a laugh.

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For the ISU World Figure Skating Cham-pionships 2021, global stars Måns Zelmerlöw and Polina Gagarina have combined to perform the official song of the Championships: “Circles and Squares”. The artists met in 2015 in the Eurovision Song Contest final, in which Zelmerlöw clinched victory with his track “Heroes” and Gagarina took second place with “A Million Voices”.

 “The song will help lift the Champion- ships and will be performed throughout. We’ll play the single during build-up and practice sessions and the music video will be shown on the big screen inside the are-na. I hope that figure skating fans around the world play the song to get in the right World Championships mood! The song is available on most digital platforms, so enjoy!” says Ulrika Molin, President of

the Organizing Committee. “It feels great that Polina and I have been entrusted by the Figure Skating Association to perform the song together. I was extremely impressed by her as a singer back in 2015 in Vienna. When we wrote the song, we wanted to capture the drama and theatre of figure skating. I really think we’ve put together a song that is ideal for the ice,” says Måns. “For me, this collaboration is not only about visiting beautiful Sweden, but also an immersion in the world of figure skating. I admire the skaters. Everything they do

seems to me impossible and amazing. “Circles and Squares” is a very direct and romantic song – which is just how I see figure skating! I hope that figure skating fans and music lovers will like the song,” says Polina.  “Circles and Squares” is written by Måns Zelmerlöw, Stefan Örn, David Lindgren Zacharias, Sandra Bjurman and Jon Eyden.

Scan and listen now!

Måns & PolinaThe stars behind the official song.

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Axel PaulsenThe only jump that takes off from the front, making the jump easy to recognise.

Because there’s extra rotation involved, the Axel is seen as the most difficult jump.

In a Flip, you dig the right toe picks* into the ice while the other foot skates on theback inner edge. No one has yet landed a clean quadruple Flip in competition.

In a Lutz, the skater also digs their right toe picks* into the ice, but here the other foot skates on the back outside edge.

The Salchow is an edge jump that takes off from a back inside edge on the leftfoot*. The Salchow is seen to be the second easiest jump in Figure Skating.

The Toe Loop takes off from the left toe pick*, while the other foot travels on theback outside edge, and is seen to be the easiest jump in Figure Skating.

An edge jump in which you take off from the same foot you land on. If the jump istowards the left, take-off is from the right outside edge.

* The take-off foot named above applies for jumps to the left, rotating anti-clockwise, which is most common.

Flip

Lutz

Salchow

Toe Loop

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36 37

Figure skating has a long history in Sweden. And in recent years, interest in the sport has flourished. In the past two years, Swedish figure skating has grown by 24 per cent and interest in the sport is growing among children and adults. Sweden’s hosting of international championships has also resulted in figure skating reaching a wider audience. The Swedish Figure Skating Associ-ation was formed back in 1904 as part of the Swedish Skating Association, before becoming independent in 1945. Sweden’s greatest competitive succes-ses in figure skating came before the second world war, with names such as Ulrich Salchow, Magda Juhlin, Gillis Grafström, and Vivi-Anne Hultén. More recent successes include Joshi and Viktoria Helgesson’s 4th and 5th pla-ces at the European Championships in 2015, Alexander Majorov’s 7th place at the European Championships in 2018, and Team Surprise – the world’s most successful Synchronized Skating team – with 12 medals including six World Championship golds, the most recent of which was in 2012, and silver in 2018. Most recently, Nikolai Majorov took 15th place at the 2020 European Championships.

 Swedish figure skating is on a roll! Growing numbers of talented juniors are competing for national team places and seniors continue to challenge for podium spots at international com-petitions. The successes and cham-pionships of recent years at home, (European Championships in Malmö in 2003 and Stockholm in 2015, World Championships in Gothenburg in 2008, and World Synchronized Skating Championships in Stockholm in 2018), have increased the visibility of the sport. And greater visibility drives interest in the sport. Today, figure skating is among Sweden’s top 20 sports, and one of the sports that has grown most rapidly in recent years. Between them, 145 local clubs from Kiruna within the Arctic Circle to Trelleborg on the south coast have some 38,500 members. Activities for children and younger figure skaters are increasing rapidly and in recent years more and more adults have made their way onto the ice. Joy, enthusiasm, and a sense of com-munity are hallmarks of the Swedish Figure Skating Association. We strive to be the best in the world – for everyone and at all levels.

Swedish figure skating – a growing sport

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We often hear their names, but who are they – the pioneers? Here’s a quick look at those who came before us.

One of the very first pioneers was Henning Grenander. Like many others,

he was inspired by the great interna-tional figure skater of the late 19th century, the American, Jackson Haines. Haines was actually an unemployed ballet dancer at home in the United States who, living by the motto that ‘ice is freer than air’, attached blades to his shoes and began to dance to music. He also understood how to dress stylishly, and the Europeans fell head over heels for his charisma and charm.

 At the time, ice skating rinks were often a thing of vanity where skaters showed off that they could afford expensive skates and clothing. For those who had spent all their money on buying skates, the only thing left for them to do was to impress in another way – by becoming the best at performing ‘figures’ on ice, and so competitive figure skating was born, especially amongst men.  In 1866, the Royal Skating Club was established. Then, in 1883, the Stock-holm Public Skating Club (SASK) was formed, which became part of the International Skating Union (ISU) when that was set up in 1892. An organi-sation was now in place that could arrange competitions at international level. The very first World Champi-onships were held in St. Petersburg in 1896 and, as early as 1898, the graceful

A bit of history by Claes-Johan Larsson

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Swede Henning Grenander took World Championship gold. It was a win that sparked the first World Championship scandal when the skaters who usually won lodged a protest. Grenander took it to heart and stopped competing. However, he had initiated a tradition of Swedish victories!  In 1901, Ulrich Salchow won the

first of his ten World Championships, followed by nine European Champions-hips and an Olympic medal. A unique record that still stands today. Salchow could have achieved another gold at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920, but he fell while attempting his own original move – a Single Salchow Jump. Despite the fall, he still managed to finish in fourth place. Salchow’s students also competed at the same Olympics.  Magda Juhlin had already won several golds at the Swedish Champi-onships and the Nordic Games, before narrowly beating Svea Norén to

Olympic gold. Juhlin, who was four months pregnant at the time, was prai-sed for her skilfully executed moves and “admirable energy”.

 Prior to the Antwerp Olympics, Gillis Grafström survived the Spanish flu and shortly afterwards was involved in a lift

accident in the Swedish town of Borås. But rather like Indiana Jones, he ma-naged to grab the lift cable and swing elegantly to safety. When he finally arrived in Antwerp, one of Grafström’s skates broke, but he managed to take gold anyway – his third consecutive Olympic gold! There might even have been a fourth at Lake Placid in 1932, had it not been for a collision with a photographer, leaving him to settle for ”only” silver.  What happened next? Grafström, who had a degree in architecture, moved to Potsdam and collected Meis-sen porcelain. He married the great grandchild of the composer Mendels-sohn-Bartholdy, but she died tragically from blood poisoning only two months after the wedding. Juhlin became an accountant and later appeared on her own postage stamp! She continued to skate using the skates she received from Salchow until her death at the age of 96 in 1990.  Salchow was committed to sport for his entire life. He competed in cycling, sailing, and bobsledding. He was chair-man of the Swedish Boxing Association and AIK sports club, and President of the International Skating Union (ISU) and much more. Each and every one were pioneers and role models.

Sweden, proud World Figure Skating Championships organaizer since 1897. Except for the championships in Gothenburg 1976 & 2008 thay have all been hosted in Stockholm.

Sources:• Magda Henriette Maria Julin, https://www.skbl.se/en/article/MagdaJulin, Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (article by Lennart K Persson), 2021-03-07.• Gillis E Grafström, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/Sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=13131 , Dictionary of Swedish National Biography (article by Olof Groth), 2021-03-07.• K E J Ulrich Salchow, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=6321&forceOrdinarySite=true , Dictionary of Swedish National Biography, (article by Jan Lindroth), 2021-03-07.• ”Det är ingen som kan åka figurer idag” Artikel, Aftonbladet January 26, 2014, author Petra Thorén

= Men = Ladies

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Armenia ARM

Australia AUS

Austria AUT

Azerbaijan AZE

Belarus BLR

Belgium BEL

Bulgaria BUL

Canada CAN

China CHN

Chinese Taipei TPE

Croatia CRO

Cyprus CYP

Czech Republic CZE

Estonia EST

Finland FIN

France FRA

Georgia GEO

Germany GER

Great Britain GBR

Hong Kong, China HKG

Hungary HUN

Israel ISR

Italy ITA

Japan JPN

Kazakhstan KAZ

Latvia LAT

Lithuania LTU

Mexico MEX

Netherlands NED

Philippines PHI

Poland POL

Republic of Korea KOR

FSR FSR

Slovenia SLO

Spain ESP

Sweden SWE

Switzerland SUI

Turkey TUR

Ukraine UKR

United States of America

USA

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The 40 participating ISU MembersAs of March 15 2021. Subject to change.

44 45

CompetitorsAs of March 15 2021. Subject to change.

CompetitorsAs of March 15 2021. Subject to change.

Ladies1. ARM Anastasiya Galustyan

2. AUS Kailani Craine

3. AUT Olga Mikutina

4. AZE Ekaterina Ryabova

5. BLR Viktoriia Safonova

6. BEL Loena Hendrickx

7. BUL Alexandra Feigin

8. CAN Emily Bausback

9. CAN Madeline Schizas

10. CHN Hongyi Chen

11. TPE Emmy Ma

12. CYP Emilea Zingas

13. CZE Eliska Brezinova

14. EST Eva-Lotta Kiibus

15. FIN Jenni Saarinen

16. FRA Mae Berenice Meite

17. GEO Alina Urushadze

18. GER Nicole Schott

19. GBR Natasha Mckay

20. HKG Yi Christy Leung

21. HUN Julia Lang

22. ISR Nelli Ioffe

23. ITA Lara Naki Gutmann

24. JPN Rika Kihira

25. JPN Satoko Miyahara

26. JPN Kaori Sakamoto

27. LAT Angelina Kuchvalska

28. LTU Elzbieta Kropa

29. NED Lindsay Van Zundert

30. PHI Alisson Krystle Perticheto

31. POL Ekaterina Kurakova

32. KOR Yelim Kim

33. KOR Haein Lee

34. FSR Anna Shcherbakova

35. FSR Alexandra Trusova

36. FSR Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

37. SLO Dasa Grm

38. SWE Josefin Taljegård

39. SUI Alexia Paganini

40. UKR Anastasiia Arkhipova

41. USA Karen Chen

42. USA Bradie Tennell

Ice Dance1. ARM Tina Garabedian & Simon Proulx Senecal

2. AUS Holly Harris & Jason Chan

3. AZE Ekaterina Kuznetsova & Oleksandr Kolosovskyi

4. BLR Viktoria Semenjuk & Ilya Yukhimuk

5. BUL Mina Zdravkova & Christopher M. Davis

6. CAN Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen

7. CAN Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier

8. CAN Marjorie Lajoie & Zachary Lagha

9. CHN Shiyue Wang & Xinyu Liu

10. CZE Natalie Taschlerova & Filip Taschler

11. FIN Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Versluis

12. FRA Adelina Galyavieva & Louis Thauron

13. FRA Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud

14. GER Katharina Mueller & Tim Dieck

15. GBR Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson

16. HUN Anna Yanovskaya & Adam Lukacs

17. ISR Shira Ichilov & Laurent Abecassis

18. ITA Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri

19. ITA Carolina Moscheni & Francesco Fioretti

20. JPN Misato Komatsubara & Tim Koleto

21. LTU Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevicius

22. NED Chelsea Verhaegh & Sherim Van Geffen

23. POL Natalia Kaliszek & Maksym Spodyriev

24. FSR Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov

25. FSR Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin

26. FSR Tiffani Zagorski & Jonathan Guerreiro

27. ESP Sara Hurtado & Kirill Khaliavin

28. TUR Yuliia Zhata & Berk Akalin

29. UKR Alexandra Nazarova & Maxim Nikitin

30. USA Madison Chock & Evan Bates

31. USA Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker

32. USA Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue

Pairs1. AUT Miriam Ziegler & Severin Kiefer

2. BLR Bogdana Lukashevich & Alexander Stepanov

3. CAN Kirsten Moore-Towers & Michael Marinaro

4. CAN Evelyn Walsh & Trennt Michaud

5. CHN Cheng Peng & Yang Jin

6. CHN Wenjing Sui & Cong Han

7. CHN Yuchen Wang & Yihang Huang

8. CRO Lana Petranovic & Antonio Souza Kordeiru

9. CZE Elizaveta Zhuk & Martin Bidar

10. FRA Cleo Hamon & Denys Strekalin

11. FRA Coline Keriven & Noel-Antoine Pierre

12. GEO Anastasiia Metelkina & Daniil Parkman

13. GER Annika Hocke & Robert Kunkel

14. GBR Zoe Jones & Christopher Boyadji

15. HUN Ioulia Chtchetinina & Mark Magyar

16. ISR Anna Vernikov & Evgeni Krasnopolski

17. ITA Nicole Della Monica & Matteo Guarise

18. ITA Rebecca Ghilardi & Filippo Ambrosini

19. JPN Riku Miura & Ryuichi Kihara

20. NED Daria Danilova & Michel Tsibato

21. FSR Aleksandra Boikova & Dmitrii Kozlovskii

22. FSR Anastasia Mishina & Aleksandr Galliamov

23. FSR Evgenia Tarasova & Vladimir Morozov

24. UKR Sofiia Holichenko & Artem Darenskyi

25. USA Ashley Cain-Gribble & Timothy Leduc

26. USA Alexa Knierim & Brandon Frazier

Men1. ARM Slavik Hayrapetyan

2. AUS Brendan Kerry

3. AUT Maurizio Zandron

4. AZE Vladimir Litvintsev

5. BLR Konstantin Milyukov

6. BUL Larry Loupolover

6. CAN Keegan Messing

8. CHN Boyang Jin

9. CHN Han Yan

10. CZE Michal Brezina

11. EST Aleksandr Selevko

12. FIN Valtter Virtanen

13. FRA Kevin Aymoz

14. GEO Morisi Kvitelashvili

15. GER Paul Fentz

16. GBR Peter James Hallam

17. ISR Alexei Bychenko

18. ITA Daniel Grassl

19. ITA Matteo Rizzo

20. JPN Yuzuru Hanyu

21. JPN Yuma Kagiyama

22. JPN Shoma Uno

23. KAZ Mikhail Shaidorov

24. LAT Deniss Vasiljevs

25. MEX Donovan Carrillo

26. KOR Junhwan Cha

27. FSR Mikhail Kolyada

28. FSR Evgeni Semenenko

29. SWE Nikolaj Majorov

30. SUI Lukas Britschgi

31. TUR Basar Oktar

32. UKR Ivan Shmuratko

33. USA Jason Brown

34. USA Nathan Chen

35. USA Vincent Zhou

46 47

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ScheduleAs of March 15 2021. Subject to change.

Date Time Event

Monday, March 22 All day Official Practice

Tuesday, March 23 All day Official Practice

Wednesday,March 24

10:00

17:30

18:30

Ladies – Short Programme

Opening Ceremony on Ice

Pairs – Short Programme

Thursday,March 25

11:30

18:10

Men – Short Programme

Pairs – Free Skating

Victory Ceremony – Pairs

Friday,March 26

10:45

18:00

Ice Dance – Rhythm Dance

Ladies – Free Skating

Victory Ceremony – Ladies

Saturday,March 27

11:00

17:00

Men – Free Skating

Victory Ceremony – Men

Ice Dance – Free Dance

Victory Ceremony – Ice Dance

Sunday,March 28 14:30 Gala Exhibition

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