The 2021 World Figure Skating Championships were held from March 22 to 28, 2021, at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. Sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), the World Championships are considered the most prestigious event in figure skating. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The competition determined the entry quotas for each skating federation at the 2022 World Championships and was the first qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The World Championships were the only ISU Championship event held during the 2020–21 season, while the European Championships, Four Continents Championships, and World Junior Championships were all cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was held without spectators, while attendees at the competition remained in a bubble – that is, in a cluster made up exclusively of individuals who have been thoroughly tested and were unlikely to spread infection – throughout the event.
Nathan Chen of the United States won the men's event, Anna Shcherbakova of Russia won the women's event, Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov of Russia won the pairs event, and Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia won the ice dance event. Because of a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, all Russian skaters competed as representatives of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSR).
Background The World Figure Skating Championships are considered the most prestigious event in figure skating. The 2021 World Championships were held from March 22 to 28, 2021, at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. The 2021 World Championships were the only ISU Championship event held during the 2020–21 season owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic began with an outbreak in China in December 2019. Soon after, it spread to other areas of Asia and then worldwide in early 2020. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, and assessed the outbreak as having become a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
COVID‑19 transmission occurs when infectious particles are breathed in or come into contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth. The risk is highest when people are in close proximity, but small airborne particles containing the virus can remain suspended in the air and travel over long distances, particularly indoors. People can remain contagious for up to twenty days and can spread the virus even if they do not develop symptoms themselves. Several COVID-19 vaccines were approved and distributed, many of which initiated mass vaccination campaigns. Other preventive measures included social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, use of face masks or coverings in public, covering coughs and sneezes, and hand washing. One testing method to see if a person was infected with COVID-19 was real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which was used at the 2021 World Championships.
Scheduling The pandemic caused significant disruption to the 2020–21 figure skating season. The complete Junior Grand Prix series was cancelled on July 20, 2020. On October 16, 2020, the International Skating Union (ISU) announced the cancellation of the 2021 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, and on November 24, 2020, the 2021 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. The 2020–21 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, 2021 European Figure Skating Championships, and 2021 World Synchronized Skating Championships were definitively cancelled on December 10, 2020.
Despite these cancellations, ISU Vice President Alexander Lakernik stated that the ISU would make "every effort" to hold the World Championships. A Swedish government ban which limited entrants in international competitions hosted by Sweden to only those from the European Union was lifted on November 20, 2020. However, on December 22, 2020, Skate Sweden cancelled all domestic championships for the remainder of the 2020–21 season in compliance with Public Health Agency of Sweden guidelines.
During its January 28 meeting, the ISU Council affirmed that the World Championships would proceed as scheduled. The council also announced that the status of the World Championships as a qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics would be reevaluated based on the entries received by the ISU as of the March 1, 2021, deadline. On March 4, the ISU affirmed that the Olympic qualifying process would proceed as previously announced, as nearly all ISU member nations with qualified skaters had confirmed entry to the 2021 World Championships. The 2021 World Figure Skating Championships were ultimately held from March 22 to 28, 2021, at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm.
ISU member nations' responses In November 2020, Skate Canada stated that if the 2021 World Championships continued as planned, it might not participate due to insufficient training time and preparation on behalf of its skaters, as well as the mandatory fourteen-day quarantine upon return to Canada. Despite the cancellation of the 2021 Canadian Championships and a lack of competitive opportunities for its skaters, Skate Canada announced its selection criteria for naming a World Championship team in January 2021.
The Japan Skating Federation withdrew its delegation from the 2021 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships scheduled for early March, calling into question the participation of its figure skaters at the 2021 World Championships. The Japan Skating Federation eventually sent skaters to the World Championships due to it being an Olympic qualifying event. The Japanese delegation arrived at the competition throughout the weekend of March 20–22, with all athletes receiving a negative PCR test upon arrival.
Skaters' responses Skaters arrived at the event with varying levels of preparation due to their respective governments' and home federations' responses to the pandemic. Multiple skaters had been unable to train with their primary coaches due to travel or visa restrictions and spent the season in temporary training situations, either on their own or with different coaches. Many pairs and dance teams were also unable to have physical contact when they could train on the ice due to their nations' respective restrictions, further limiting their preparedness.
In January 2021, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France, the defending world champions in ice dance, announced that they would not compete at the World Championships; they planned to focus instead on the 2022 Winter Olympics. Nathan Chen of the United States, the defending world champion in the men's event, stated that while he was grateful for the opportunity to compete, he had concerns about COVID-19 safety protocols, citing the fourteen-hour flight to Sweden as his biggest concern. Pairs skater Kirsten Moore-Towers of Canada described "anxiousness over the unknown". Some skaters, however, felt that adequate precautions were being taken and they would likely be safe at the event. Emily Bausback of Canada stated: "I knew we wouldn't be going if it wasn't safe... I feel comfortable with the situation." Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia expressed no hesitation about competing at the World Championships, having already had COVID-19.
Criticism and concerns During the months preceding the arrival of skaters and officials in Stockholm, a petition calling for the ISU to implement stricter quarantine measures and a tighter bubble, a cluster made up exclusively of individuals who have been thoroughly tested and unlikely to spread infection, garnered thousands of signatures. The Ericsson Globe (the site of the competition arena), two practice arenas, and a dedicated hotel for skaters and officials were interconnected and allowed passage from one place to another via indoor walkways. A negative PCR test was required within forty-eight hours of arrival in Sweden, with a series of follow-up tests scheduled afterward. However, there was no quarantine requirement prior to the start of the competition.
The attendance of skaters representing the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSR) drew particular scrutiny, as the federation was accused of holding several domestic and international events in violation of the ISU's COVID-19 safety protocols. Despite some precautionary measures being taken, the organizers of the 2020 Rostelecom Cup, as with other Russian domestic competitions during the season, came under criticism for allowing a large audience and an insufficient enforcement of mandates regarding social distancing or proper use of face masks. A focal point of criticism was the decision to hold the traditional post-competition banquet, where many skaters were documented not wearing masks or socially distancing at all, as well as sharing food from a communal buffet. Additionally, a large number of Russian skaters had contracted COVID-19 during the season, including Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Victoria Sinitsina, and Nikita Katsalapov. Nevertheless, all members of the Russian delegation tested negative during the initial round of testing administered upon arrival in Stockholm.
During the competition Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, had been scheduled to participate in the opening ceremony before she and her husband, Prince Daniel, contracted COVID-19 a few weeks prior to the event. She instead appeared in a video message from Haga Palace to welcome the athletes.
Delegations began arriving on March 20 and 21, and members underwent the required multiple tests and quarantine until a negative result was returned. Attendees were not eligible for accreditation until they passed a second PCR test. After receiving accreditation, limited testing was conducted, and attendees were only required to fill out daily symptom questionnaires and undergo temperature checks.
Attendees at the competition remained in a bubble throughout the event. On March 22, the ISU announced that one positive case had been found during one of the initial rounds of testing and that contact tracing procedures were being undertaken. The skater with the positive case, later revealed to be Viktoriia Safonova of Belarus, was quarantined and not allowed to compete. Safonova's coach subsequently tested negative in a second round of testing, and Safonova, who had traveled to Stockholm from a different location, had had no contact with the other members of the Belarusian team or their coaches. On March 24, the ISU announced that a second positive case had been found during the initial round of testing. Without accreditation, neither skater with positive test results had been allowed into the competition bubble.
On March 26, the ISU announced that a third positive case had been found, this time within the bubble. After the event, Simon Proulx-Sénécal of Armenia revealed that he had tested positive on March 25, the day before the ice dance competition was scheduled to start, and asked for a re-test prior to the rhythm dance segment on March 26. As the test result did not come back until after the rhythm dance had concluded, Proulx-Sénécal and his partner, Tina Garabedian, were not allowed to compete. The result came back as a second positive. Proulx-Sénécal expressed that he believed his first test was a false positive, as his federation later received a written test result stating that his second test, taken the morning of the rhythm dance, was negative, not positive as initially conveyed to their team doctor. He subsequently tested negative twice more, once the day after the rhythm dance (March 27) and again upon returning to Montreal on March 29.
Qualification