2011 World Figure Skating Championships
| 2011 World Figure Skating Championships | |
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Opening ceremony
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| Type: | ISU Championship |
| Date: | April 25 – May 1 |
| Season: | 2010–11 |
| Location: | Moscow, Russia |
| Venue: | Megasport Arena |
| Champions | |
Men's singles: Patrick Chan
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Ladies' singles: Miki Ando
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Pair skating: Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy
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Ice dancing: Meryl Davis / Charlie White
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| Previous: 2010 World Championships |
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| Next: 2012 World Championships |
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The 2011 World Figure Skating Championships was a senior international figure skating competition in the 2010–11 season. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
The competition was originally assigned to Nagano, Japan, and later moved to Tokyo, to be held from March 21–27 at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium with the Japan Skating Federation as the host organization. It was postponed in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and later reassigned to Moscow, Russia.
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. 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. Although most foreign skaters had planned to fly to Japan from March 16 and later, 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.
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. The ISU began considering various possibilities, including holding the event in another country. ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta suggested the event could be canceled or postponed until October, with the ISU saying they would make an announcement by March 21. The JSF head, Seiko Hashimoto, said that her federation was hoping to reschedule the event to September or October, but Japanese skating fans felt moving it to another country would be a better option. 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, many coaches and officials voiced their preference for April–May, citing greater complications arising from an autumn Worlds. However, others noted it would be very difficult for a new host to organize the event in under a month. 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, while noting there would be major logistical challenges to organize the event on short notice. The criteria for new candidate hosts included a start date in April or May, 700 hotel rooms, a television production, and two rinks: A competition rink with a minimum 8000 seats and 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. Local expertise, good transportation infrastructure, 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 2015 World Championships. In June 2011, Japan was chosen as host for the 2014 World Championships, at either Tokyo or Saitama, still to be determined.
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