Reaction to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Immediately following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that occurred on March 11, 2011, the JSF reported to the ISU that the competition venue was undamaged and the event would be held as planned.[4][5] However, on March 13, the ISU released a statement saying that it was considering canceling the event and, later that day, the German skating federation announced that it would not send any skaters to the World Championships, with other countries undecided.[6] Although most foreign skaters had planned to fly to Japan from March 16 and later,[6][7] a few had already arrived in the country on March 11, among them European champion Florent Amodio, and were advised to return home by their skating federations, based on governmental travel advisories.[8]
On March 14, 2011, the ISU published a statement that 2011 Worlds would not be held in Tokyo during the dates originally planned, and that a decision regarding rescheduling or a complete cancellation would be made after further evaluation.[9] The ISU began considering various possibilities, including holding the event in another country.[10] ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta suggested the event could be canceled or postponed until October,[11] with the ISU saying they would make an announcement by March 21.[12] The JSF head, Seiko Hashimoto, said that her federation was hoping to reschedule the event to September or October,[13] but Japanese skating fans felt moving it to another country would be a better option.[14] Although it would oblige a number of skaters to back out of agreements to appear in skating tours, an important source of income for many,[15] many coaches and officials voiced their preference for April–May, citing greater complications arising from an autumn Worlds.[16][17][18] However, others noted it would be very difficult for a new host to organize the event in under a month.[19] Typically, a host country of a World Championships has over two years and the shortest period was in 2000 when France organized the event in seven months. On March 21, the ISU announced that the JSF had relinquished its hosting rights and that it was looking into alternate locations,[20] while noting there would be major logistical challenges to organize the event on short notice.[21] The criteriums to bid to hosts the new championships included a new start date in April or May, 700 hotel rooms,a host broadcaster in conditions to produce the event, and two rinks:The main rink to host the competition with a minimum 8000 seats available from the Thursday early morning through Sunday late evening of the following week, and a practice rink from Friday early morning through Friday late evening of the following week.[22] Local expertise, good transportation infrastructure,[23] and quick visa processing were also important factors. ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta said he would support a bid by the Japanese federation to host the 2014 or 2015 World Championships.[24] In June 2011, Japan was chosen as the host country for the the next championship with available dates who was the 2014 edition at the same proposed venue in Saitama.[25]
Bids for re-vote
On March 22, 2011, the International Skating Union announced that six candidates had applied to host the relocated championships.[26]
On March 24, 2011, the ISU announced that Moscow's Megasport Arena had been chosen as the replacement host for the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships.[15][27]
Competition notes
Russia pledged to speed up processing of visas and Vladimir Putin dismissed concerns about the cost of organizing the event on short notice.[27][28] The country had also accepted hosting duties of the World Pentathlon Championships after political instability caused Egypt to step down.[28] The city of Moscow was expected to spend 200 million rubles (5 million euros or US$7 million) on the event.[29]
The event was open to figure skaters from ISU member nations who had reached the age of 15 by July 1, 2010. Based on the results of the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships, each country was allowed between one and three entries per discipline. National associations selected their entries based on their own criteria.
Countries which qualified more than one country per discipline:
Spots
Men
Ladies
Pairs
Dance
3
Canada Japan United States
Japan
China Russia
Canada United States
2
Belgium Czech Republic France Italy Sweden
Canada Finland Italy Russia Korea Sweden United States
Canada Germany United States
France Hungary Israel Italy Russia Great Britain
Due to the large number of competitors, the men's, ladies', and ice dancing competitions required a preliminary round prior to the main competition. The top 12 men and ladies advanced to the short program and the top 10 ice dancing teams advanced to the short dance.
Entries
195 athletes from 44 countries were scheduled to participate.[33]
Patrick Chan won the short program with a record score, while Nobunari Oda placed second and defending champion, Daisuke Takahashi, third.[35][36] Chan also set record free skating and total scores to win his first World title,[37][38] after previously winning two silvers. Takahiko Kozuka won his first medal at the World Championships, his previous best result being 6th in 2009. Artur Gachinski, the 2010 Junior World bronze medalist, won the bronze medal, becoming the first men's skater to medal at his senior Worlds debut since Evan Lysacek had done so in 2005; both won a bronze medal in Moscow.[39]
In the men's free skating, Brian Joubert slashed his hand on his skate blade and left drops of blood all over the ice;[40] he completed the program but later required medical attention. Also during the free skating, a screw in Daisuke Takahashi's skate came loose on his first jump.[41] He was able to get it repaired and resumed his program within the three minutes allowed. Oda ruined his chances of a medal by doing an extra triple jump, resulting in a loss of 13 points.[37]Florent Amodio used music with lyrics, which is not allowed in competitive skating with the exception of ice dancing. He was not given the normally required one-point penalty because not enough judges voted for it.[37]
2010 Olympic champion Kim Yuna won the short program while Miki Ando placed second.[42][43] Ando was first in the free skating to win her second World gold medal, her previous title being in 2007.[44] Kim won her fifth World medal, silver, while Carolina Kostner won her third medal, a bronze. Kostner had also won the bronze in 2005, the previous time the event had been held in Moscow.[45] The 2010 World champion, Mao Asada, was sixth.
Defending champions, Pang Qing / Tong Jian, were first after the short program, with Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy in second, and new Russian team, Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov, in third.[46] Savchenko and Szolkowy then won the free skating to win their third World title, reclaiming the crown they lost in 2010 and setting a new record score in the free skating and overall.[47] They became Germany's second most successful pair at the event after Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier who won four World titles in the 1930s. Volosozhar and Trankov medaled after only a year together and at their first major international competition. Pang and Tong took the bronze.
In the short program, Eric Radford's nose was broken when Meagan Duhamel's elbow hit him on the descent from a twist, their first element, but they completed the program without a break;[48][49] the pair were able to compete in the free skating, and finished seventh overall.
