The 2025 World Figure Skating Championships were held at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts from March 26 through March 30. The event, sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) determined the entry quotas for the 2026 Championships (in which the location has not been announced) and the 2026 Winter Olympics (to be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy).

The event was held in Boston at a time when the sport needed something to focus on.  Just under two months prior, American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a United States Army helicopter over the Potomac River, leaving no survivors on either aircraft.  Among those on the American Airlines flight were eleven upcoming skaters, some of whom who were considered hopeful competitors for the 2030 Olympics, as well as four coaches.  Two of the coaches (Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov), were the parents of skater Maxim Naumov, who stayed behind in Wichita and missed the flight.  The victims were part of the Skating Club of Boston and had been preparing to land in D.C.

The men’s event was highly contested, with upcoming American superstar Ilia Malinin, known for his backflips on ice, beating 38 other skaters to win his second gold medal, including upcoming skating phenom Mikhail Shaidorov (of Kazakhstan), two time Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama (of Japan), and reigning bronze medalist Adam Siao Him Fa (of France).  Cha Jun-hwan became the highest placing South Korean skater of all time with a seventh place finish, while two time Olympian Jason Brown finished eighth.

The women’s event was also fierce, with American skater Alysa Liu winning the gold medal, making a dramatic comeback to the sport after two seasons off the ice, unseating reigning gold medalist Kaori Sakamoto (of Japan) while also beating upcoming star Mone Chiba (also of Japan), reigning silver medalist Isabeau Levito (of the United States), and social media favorite Amber Glenn (also of the United States).  Reigning bronze medalist Kim Chae-yeon (of South Korea) placed tenth in the event.

While the fan favorites Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (of Japan) won the pair skating event, they had to beat reigning champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (of Canada) to do so.  A difference of 20.03 points was able to prevent the Canadian pair from taking the gold again, and they ended up in fifth place.  Miura and Kihara narrowly beat out reigning bronze medalists Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin (of Germany) for the gold.

The ice dancing event had two of the three medaling pairs from last year’s championships on the podium again this year, with American pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates retaining the gold medal position, while Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (of Canada) were able to move up from bronze to silver.  The British pair consisting of Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson took home the bronze, while the reigning silver medalists Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (of Italy) finished in fourth.

After the competition came the Exhibition event, where notable skaters showed off their talents in a non-competitive situation.  Maxim Naumov, who did not compete in the tournament, participated in the exhibition, earning a standing ovation from the crowd at TD Garden.  Mikhail Shaidorov performed a program inspired by Kung Fu Panda, while Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson performed a Rocky-themed program.  With help from other skaters, Estonian skater Niina Petrokina skated to “Cell Block Tango”, which also earned a standing ovation.  Amber Glenn’s program to “Hot To Go” by Chappell Roan included the viral dance performed many times on the social media platform TikTok, while Ilia Malinin’s program, dedicated to the victims of American Airlines Flight 5342, was filled with emotion.  At the end of the exhibition, Malinin and Adam Siao Him Fa did backflips on the ice at the same time, prompting cheers from the audience.

In all, the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships showcased the stars of the sport.  While the sport’s veterans were able to continue making names for themselves, it allowed newer stars to break into the scene as well.

Editor’s Note: Tristan Taylor attended the Championships in Boston so was able to observe the competition firsthand.