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 Saitama. Bids for re-vote On March 22, 2011, the International Skating Union announced that six candidates had applied to host the relocated championships. Vancouver, Canada Lake Placid or Colorado Springs, United States Moscow, Russia Zagreb, Croatia Turku, Finland Graz, Austria 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. 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. The country had also accepted hosting duties of the World Pentathlon Championships after political instability caused Egypt to step down. The city of Moscow was expected to spend 200 million rubles (5 million euros or US$7 million) on the event. 2010 bronze medalist Laura Lepistö withdrew in early March due to a back injury and was replaced by Juulia Turkkila. Shawn Sawyer dropped out due to a scheduling conflict and was replaced by Kevin Reynolds, while Myriane Samson withdrew due to a knee injury and was replaced by Amelie Lacoste. Sinead Kerr and John Kerr dropped out to recover from shoulder surgery, and later announced their retirement. Qualification 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