2012 World Figure Skating Championships
Introduction The '''2012 World Figure Skating Championships''' was an international figure skating competition in the 2011–12 season. The event determined the World Champions in men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. It was held between March 26 and April 1 in Nice, France.
Host In November 2009, the International Skating Union named Nice, France as the provisional host. In early 2011, it was announced that Montpellier was also under consideration; however, in May 2011, Nice's Palais des Expositions was confirmed as the event venue. The nearby Jean Bouin Center was the practice rink. The cost was estimated at USD $10 million. The competition rink, practice rink, and athletes' accommodation facilities are within 60 yards of each other, with an efficient transportation system also boosting Nice's bid.The event determined the number of entries a country could send to the 2013 World Championships.
Qualification The event was open to figure skaters from ISU member nations who reached the age of 15 by July 1, 2011.Based on the results of the 2011 World Championships, each country was allowed between one and three entries per discipline. National associations selected their entries based on their own criteria but those skaters had to achieve a minimum technical elements score (TES) at an international event prior to the World Championships. The minimum TES for each discipline and segment were:+ Minimum technical scores (TES) Discipline SP / SD FS / FD Men  20  35 Ladies  15  25 Pairs  17  30 Ice dancing  17  27Countries which qualified more than one entry per discipline: Spots Men Ladies Pairs Dance 3             2
Entries Member nations submitted the following entries: Country Men Ladies Pairs Ice dancing  Slavik Hayrapetyan  Brendan Kerry Chantelle Kerry Danielle O'Brien / Gregory Merriman  Viktor Pfeifer Kerstin Frank Stina Martini / Severin Kiefer Barbora Silná / Juri Kurakin  Julia Zlobina / Alexei Sitnikov  Vitali Luchanok Lubov Bakirova / Mikalai Kamianchuk Lesia Valadzenkava / Vitali Vakunov  Kevin van der Perren Isabelle Pieman  Damjan Ostojič  Kevin Alves  Manol Atanassov Daniela Stoeva Elizabeta Makarova / Leri Kenchadze Alexandra Chistiakova / Dimitar Lichev  Patrick Chan  Kevin Reynolds Amelie Lacoste Jessica Dube / Sebastien Wolfe  Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir  Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill  Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje  Song Nan Zhang Kexin Pang Qing / Tong Jian  Sui Wenjing / Han Cong Huang Xintong / Zheng Xun  Jordan Ju Melinda Wang  Michal Březina  Tomáš Verner Eliška Březinová Gabriela Kubová / Dmitri Kiselev  Justus Strid Karina Johnson  Jelena Glebova Irina Shtork / Taavi Rand  Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari Alisa Mikonsaari  Juulia Turkkila Henna Lindholm / Ossi Kanervo  Florent Amodio  Brian Joubert Yrétha Silété Vanessa James / Morgan Ciprès Pernelle Carron / Lloyd Jones  Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat  Elene Gedevanishvili  Peter Liebers Sarah Hecken Maylin Hausch / Daniel Wende  Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy  Mari Vartmann / Aaron Van Cleave Nelli Zhiganshina / Alexander Gazsi  Great Britain Luke Chilcott Jenna McCorkell Stacey Kemp / David King Penny Coomes / Nicholas Buckland  Georgia Glastris  Harry Hau Yin Lee  Márton Markó Viktória Pavuk Zsuzsanna Nagy / Máté Fejes  Ami Parekh  Clara Peters  Alexei Bychenko Danielle Montalbano / Evgeni Krasnopolski Ekaterina Bugrov / Vasili Rogov  Samuel Contesti Carolina Kostner  Valentina Marchei Stefania Berton / Ondřej Hotárek  Nicole Della Monica / Matteo Guarise Lorenza Alessandrini / Simone Vaturi  Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte  Yuzuru Hanyu  Takahiko Kozuka  Daisuke Takahashi Mao Asada  Kanako Murakami  Akiko Suzuki Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran Cathy Reed / Chris Reed  Denis Ten Cortney Mansour / Daryn Zhunussov  Alina Fjodorova Ksenia Pecherkina / Aleksandrs Jakushin  Saulius Ambrulevičius Inga Janulevičiūtė Isabella Tobias / Deividas Stagniūnas  Fleur Maxwell  Reyna Hamui Corenne Bruhns / Ryan Van Natten  Kim Lucine  Ri Ji-hyang / Thae Won-hyok  Anine Rabe  Christopher Caluza Zhaira Costiniano  Maciej Cieplucha Alexandra Zvorygina / Maciej Bernadowski  Victoria Muniz  Zoltán Kelemen Sabina Măriuţă  Artur Gachinski  Sergei Voronov Polina Korobeynikova  Alena Leonova  Ksenia Makarova Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov  Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov  Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev  Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov  Ekaterina Riazanova / Ilia Tkachenko  Marina Seeh  Taras Rajec Alexandra Kunova Federica Testa / Lukas Csolley  Dasa Grm  Lejeanne Marais  Kim Min-seok Kwak Min-jeong  Suhr Chae-yeon  Javier Fernández  Javier Raya Sonia Lafuente Sara Hurtado / Adrià Díaz  Alexander Majorov Viktoria Helgesson  Laurent Alvarez Romy Buhler Anais Morand / Timothy Leemann Ramona Elsener / Florian Roost  Mimi Tanasorn Chindasook  Ali Demirboga Sıla Saygı Alisa Agafonova / Alper Ucar  Dmytro Ihnatenko Natalia Popova Siobhan Heekin-Canedy / Dmitri Dun  Jeremy Abbott  Adam Rippon Alissa Czisny  Ashley Wagner Caydee Denney / John Coughlin  Mary Beth Marley / Rockne Brubaker Meryl Davis / Charlie White  Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue  Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani  Misha Ge Anna Nagornyuk / Viktor KovalenkoSome skaters were required to compete in a preliminary round, while others received a direct entry into the short program, after which the number of entries was reduced further. If a country had a non-direct entry, its lowest-ranked skater according to the Worlds Standings competed in the preliminary round.Kiira Korpi was originally nominated to represent Finland, but announced her withdrawal on March 16, 2012 due to lingering foot and hip injuries. Alisa Mikonsaari was chosen to take her place in the competition.
Schedule Nice time (UTC+02:00):* '''Monday, March 26'''** 14:30–16:45 – Preliminary round: Pairs** 17:15–21:15 – Preliminary round: Dance* '''Tuesday, March 27'''** 10:30–16:00 – Preliminary round: Ladies** 17:00–22:15 – Preliminary round: Men* '''Wednesday, March 28'''** 13:00–16:20 – Pairs' short** 18:40–22:30 – Short dance* '''Thursday, March 29'''** 12:30–16:55 – Ladies' short** 19:00–22:20 – Free dance* '''Friday, March 30'''** 12:30–16:55 – Men's short** 19:30–22:25 – Pairs' free* '''Saturday, March 31'''** 12:55–17:00 – Men's free** 18:30–22:25 – Ladies' free* '''Sunday, April 1'''** 14:15–16:45 – Exhibitions
Overview The winners27 skaters competed in the men's preliminary round and the top twelve – led by Song Nan, Sergei Voronov, and Maciej Cieplucha – advanced to the short program. Patrick Chan, Michal Březina, and Daisuke Takahashi were the top three skaters in the short program.The men's free skating was held the next evening. Chan won his second World title, Takahashi won silver, and Yuzuru Hanyu won the bronze medal in his senior World debut. Chan was the first men's single skater to win consecutive World titles since Stéphane Lambiel of Switzerland. The event was the first time Japan had two men on the World podium.33 skaters competed in the ladies' preliminary round and the top twelve – led by Jenna McCorkell, Jelena Glebova, and Sonia Lafuente – advanced to the short program. The top three skaters in the short program were Alena Leonova, Kanako Murakami, and Carolina Kostner.Kostner was first in the free skating, followed by Akiko Suzuki and Ashley Wagner. Kostner became Italy's first ladies' World champion, silver medalist Leonova was the first Russian to reach the ladies' World podium since 2005, and Suzuki won the bronze. Kostner was the first European lady since 2005 (Irina Slutskaya) to win the gold medal at Worlds. Kostner said: "It is my tenth season at senior level, and in each season I've learned something. Today was my day and my competition. I would have been happy with second place, but I thought ‘keep on dreaming to the end’. "Eleven couples competed in the pairs' preliminary round and the top eight – led by Sui Wenjing / Han Cong, Vanessa James / Morgan Cipres, and Mari Vartmann / Aaron Van Cleave – advanced to the short program. Russian pairs Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov and Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov collided during their first practice session on March 26 but were not injured.Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy took the lead in the short program, followed by Pang Qing / Tong Jian and Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran. After falls on previous competition attempts, Savchenko/Szolkowy landed the rare throw triple Axel (first successfully executed in international competition by Rena Inoue / John Baldwin at the 2006 Winter Olympics) for the first time in their career but her free foot touched the ice. Some skaters expressed concerns about the ice quality. Maxim Trankov said: "It is soft in some places, brittle in others. I guess it is ok if you skate right after ice resurfacing, but if you are the last one to skate in the second group, it is quite another story." Alexander Smirnov said: "Sometimes it simply crushes under your blades like glass. "Volosozhar / Trankov placed first in the free skating, Savchenko / Szolkowy were second and Takahashi / Tran were third. Savchenko / Szolkowy won their fourth World title – becoming the fifth pair in the post-World War II period to do so – Volosozhar / Trankov repeated as silver medalists, and Takahashi / Tran won bronze – the first ever World pairs medal for Japan.23 couples competed in the ice dancing preliminary round and the top ten – led by Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov, Huang Xintong / Zheng Xun, and Irina Shtork / Taavi Rand – advanced to the short dance. Viktor Kovalenko – who qualified with his partner Anna Nagornyuk in 9th place – received his visa on the morning of March 26 and arrived at the arena ten minutes before they were due to compete in the preliminary round. Gregory Merriman's blade broke off his heel a minute before the end of the performance but he and his partner, Danielle O'Brien, were also able to qualify.Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir took the lead in the short dance, followed by Meryl Davis / Charlie White and Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat. The top three were the same in the free dance. Virtue / Moir won their second World title, while the 2011 World Champions, Davis / White, took silver, and Pechalat / Bourzat won bronze, their first World medal for overall placement.
Results ===Men===Yuzuru Hanyu at Worlds 2012Brian Joubert at Worlds 2012 Rank Name Nation Total points PR SP FS '''1''' Patrick Chan  266.11 1 89.41 1 176.70 '''2''' Daisuke Takahashi  259.66 3 85.72 3 173.94 '''3''' Yuzuru Hanyu  251.06 7 77.07 2 173.99 4 Brian Joubert  244.58 4 83.47 5 161.11 5 Florent Amodio  243.03 6 79.96 4 163.07 6 Michal Březina  239.55 2 87.67 7 151.88 7 Denis Ten  229.70 8 76.00 6 153.70 8 Jeremy Abbott  226.19 9 74.85 8 151.34 9 Javier Fernández  225.87 5 81.87 14 144.00 10 Samuel Contesti  224.89 11 73.55 9 151.34 11 Takahiko Kozuka  218.63 13 71.78 11 146.85 12 Kevin Reynolds  217.20 12 72.95 13 144.25 13 Adam Rippon  216.63 10 73.55 16 143.08 14 Song Nan  216.33 1 130.75 15 69.58 12 146.75 15 Kevin van der Perren  214.04 18 66.38 10 147.66 16 Tomáš Verner  210.66 14 70.38 17 140.28 17 Sergei Voronov  210.04 2 128.47 17 66.81 15 143.23 18 Artur Gachinski  205.06 16 68.50 18 136.56 19 Misha Ge  186.41 4 124.41 19 65.29 23 121.12 20 Peter Liebers  184.13 23 58.21 19 125.92 21 Christopher Caluza  184.10 8 112.08 20 61.87 20 122.23 22 Viktor Pfeifer  182.54 6 120.48 21 60.61 21 121.93 23 Kim Lucine  181.37 5 122.58 22 59.93 22 121.44 24 Javier Raya  167.48 9 111.66 24 57.22 24 110.26 Did not advance to free skating 25 Maciej Cieplucha  3 126.50 25 57.18 26 Alexander Majorov  7 115.78 26 56.57 27 Kim Min-seok  11 110.24 27 55.41 28 Dmytro Ihnatenko  28 52.93 29 Alexei Bychenko  12 108.51 29 52.76 30 Justus Strid  10 110.45 30 50.55 Did not advance to short program 31 Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari  13 100.16 32 Zoltán Kelemen  14 97.75 33 Brendan Kerry  15 95.40 34 Laurent Alvarez  16 93.24 35 Damjan Ostojič  17 93.11 36 Slavik Hayrapetyan  18 92.84 37 Luke Chilcott  Great Britain 19 91.92 38 Jordan Ju  20 89.56 39 Márton Markó  21 86.08 40 Ali Demirboga  22 84.34 41 Vitali Luchanok  23 83.97 42 Saulius Ambrulevičius  24 82.40 43 Taras Rajec  25 81.81 44 Manol Atanassov  26 79.14 45 Harry Hau Yin Lee  27 66.56 WD Kevin Alves ===Ladies===Alena Leonova at WFSCAkiko Suzuki at WFSC Rank Name Nation Total points PR SP FS '''1''' Carolina Kostner  189.94 3 61.00 1 128.94 '''2''' Alena Leonova  184.28 1 64.61 4 119.67 '''3''' Akiko Suzuki  180.68 5 59.38 2 121.30 4 Ashley Wagner  176.77 8 56.42 3 120.35 5 Kanako Murakami  175.41 2 62.67 5 112.74 6 Mao Asada  164.52 4 59.49 6 105.03 7 Zhang Kexin  157.57 9 55.00 7 102.57 8 Valentina Marchei  150.10 4 88.92 11 52.14 9 97.96 9 Ksenia Makarova  149.48 6 58.51 14 90.97 10 Elene Gedevanishvili  149.20 7 58.49 15 90.71 11 Viktoria Helgesson  148.54 10 54.19 11 94.35 12 Yrétha Silété  148.18 15 48.42 8 99.76 13 Jelena Glebova  144.28 2 92.52 14 49.04 10 95.24 14 Jenna McCorkell  Great Britain 143.84 1 95.63 12 50.42 12 93.42 15 Sonia Lafuente  140.24 3 91.84 18 47.36 13 92.88 16 Amélie Lacoste  138.60 13 49.37 17 89.23 17 Natalia Popova  136.36 8 77.57 20 46.60 16 89.76 18 Juulia Turkkila  135.56 17 47.75 18 87.81 19 Polina Korobeynikova  129.98 7 81.70 19 46.71 19 83.27 20 Sarah Hecken  129.20 21 46.39 20 82.81 21 Kerstin Frank  126.17 5 85.09 22 45.80 21 80.37 22 Alissa Czisny  124.11 16 48.31 22 75.80 23 Romy Bühler  116.21 6 81.74 24 44.02 23 72.19 24 Alisa Mikonsaari  110.40 23 44.16 24 66.24 Did not advance to free skating 25 Victoria Muniz  9 75.06 25 43.27 26 Isabelle Pieman  26 38.45 27 Alīna Fjodorova  10 73.64 27 38.06 28 Kwak Min-jeong  28 36.91 29 Clara Peters  11 73.36 29 34.03 30 Lejeanne Marais  12 70.50 30 32.22  Did not advance to short program 31 Melinda Wang  13 70.43 32 Reyna Hamui  14 69.84 33 Sıla Saygı  15 68.85 34 Inga Janulevičiūtė  16 68.51 35 Karina Johnson  17 68.46 36 Mimi Tanasorn Chindasook  18 67.62 37 Fleur Maxwell  19 67.44 38 Suhr Chae-yeon  20 67.17 39 Daša Grm  21 66.45 40 Chantelle Kerry  22 65.48 41 Eliška Březinová  23 65.47 42 Anine Rabe  24 64.92 43 Sabina Măriuţă  25 64.52 44 Alexandra Kunova  26 61.09 45 Georgia Glastris  27 60.49 46 Ami Parekh  28 58.06 47 Zhaira Costiniano  29 56.46 48 Daniela Stoeva  30 56.38 49 Marina Seeh  31 52.65 50 Mirna Librić  32 52.16 51 Viktória Pavuk  33 51.43===Pairs===Aliona Savchenko and Robin SzolkowyTatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov Rank Name Nation Total points PR SP FS '''1''' Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy  201.49 1 68.63 2 132.86 '''2''' Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov  201.38 8 60.48 1 140.90 '''3''' Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran  189.69 3 65.37 3 124.32 4 Pang Qing / Tong Jian  186.05 2 67.10 6 118.95 5 Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford  185.41 5 63.69 5 121.72 6 Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov  183.68 4 65.02 7 118.66 7 Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov  182.42 11 59.59 4 122.83 8 Caydee Denney / John Coughlin  180.37 7 62.48 8 117.89 9 Sui Wenjing / Han Cong  179.44 1 116.57 6 63.27 9 116.17 10 Mary Beth Marley / Rockne Brubaker  170.90 10 59.62 10 111.28 11 Stefania Berton / Ondřej Hotárek  168.16 9 60.39 11 107.77 12 Jessica Dubé / Sébastien Wolfe  156.36 12 55.83 12 100.53 13 Maylin Hausch / Daniel Wende  145.80 15 48.48 13 97.32 14 Mari Vartmann / Aaron van Cleave  143.29 3 90.48 16 47.91 14 95.38 15 Nicole Della Monica / Matteo Guarise  137.31 7 77.40 14 49.07 15 88.24 16 Vanessa James / Morgan Ciprès  130.70 2 96.48 13 50.51 16 80.19 Did not advance to free skating 17 Danielle Montalbano / Evgeni Krasnopolski  5 84.71 17 44.69 18 Anaïs Morand / Timothy Leemann  8 73.19 18 44.59 19 Stacey Kemp / David King  Great Britain 4 89.30 19 39.33 20 Ri Ji-hyang / Thae Won-hyok  6 84.28 20 36.23 Did not advance to short program 21 Lubov Bakirova / Mikalai Kamianchuk  9 71.58 22 Stina Martini / Severin Kiefer  10 64.72 23 Elizabeta Makarova / Leri Kenchadze  11 55.13===Ice dancing===Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian BourzatElena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov Rank Name Nation Total points PR SD FD '''1''' Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir  182.65 1 72.31 1 110.34 '''2''' Meryl Davis / Charlie White  178.62 2 70.98 2 107.64 '''3''' Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat  173.18 3 69.13 3 104.05 4 Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje  166.65 4 66.47 4 100.18 5 Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov  161.00 1 92.40 5 65.34 5 95.66 6 Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte  160.62 6 65.11 6 95.51 7 Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev  150.75 9 58.29 7 92.46 8 Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani  144.72 7 62.35 11 82.37 9 Ekaterina Riazanova / Ilia Tkachenko  144.43 10 58.19 8 86.24 10 Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue  143.95 8 59.56 10 84.39 11 Nelli Zhiganshina / Alexander Gazsi  141.36 11 56.29 9 85.07 12 Huang Xintong / Zheng Xun  130.27 2 79.69 13 51.35 13 78.92 13 Kharis Ralph / Asher Hill  129.55 15 50.75 14 78.80 14 Penny Coomes / Nicholas Buckland  Great Britain 129.31 4 79.09 12 54.35 17 74.96 15 Siobhan Heekin-Canedy / Dmitri Dun  128.75 17 48.70 12 80.05 16 Lorenza Alessandrini / Simone Vaturi  126.89 7 73.96 14 51.18 16 75.71 17 Julia Zlobina / Alexei Sitnikov  126.57 5 77.80 19 48.15 15 78.42 18 Isabella Tobias / Deividas Stagniūnas  124.07 16 50.22 19 73.85 19 Sara Hurtado / Adrià Díaz  123.12 6 76.26 18 48.68 18 74.44 20 Danielle O'Brien / Gregory Merriman  112.23 8 71.37 20 47.92 20 64.31 Did not advance to free dance 21 Pernelle Carron / Lloyd Jones  21 47.75 22 Irina Shtork / Taavi Rand  3 79.17 22 47.24 23 Zsuzsanna Nagy / Máté Fejes  10 70.84 23 45.70 24 Cathy Reed / Chris Reed  24 44.19 25 Anna Nagornyuk / Viktor Kovalenko  9 70.88 25 44.08 Did not advance to short dance 26 Gabriela Kubová / Dmitri Kiselev  11 70.39 27 Federica Testa / Lukáš Csölley  12 68.42 28 Henna Lindholm / Ossi Kanervo  13 68.42 29 Alexandra Zvorigina / Maciej Bernadowski  14 68.29 30 Ramona Elsener / Florian Roost  15 66.29 31 Alisa Agafonova / Alper Uçar  16 64.61 32 Ksenia Pecherkina / Aleksandrs Jakushin  17 62.15 33 Corenne Bruhns / Ryan Van Natten  18 61.11 34 Ekaterina Bugrov / Vasili Rogov  19 60.81 35 Cortney Mansour / Daryn Zhunussov  20 58.92 36 Barbora Silná / Juri Kurakin  21 57.78 37 Alexandra Chistiakova / Dimitar Lichev  22 55.22 38 Lesia Valadzenkava / Vitali Vakunov  23 53.00
Medals summary ===Medalists===Medals for overall placement: Men  Patrick Chan  Daisuke Takahashi  Yuzuru Hanyu Ladies  Carolina Kostner  Alena Leonova  Akiko Suzuki Pairs  Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy  Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov  Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran Ice dancing  Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir  Meryl Davis / Charlie White  Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian BourzatSmall medals for placement in the short segment: Men  Patrick Chan  Michal Březina  Daisuke Takahashi Ladies  Alena Leonova  Kanako Murakami  Carolina Kostner Pairs  Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy  Pang Qing / Tong Jian  Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran Ice dancing  Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir  Meryl Davis / Charlie White  Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian BourzatSmall medals for placement in the free segment: Men  Patrick Chan  Yuzuru Hanyu  Daisuke Takahashi Ladies  Carolina Kostner  Akiko Suzuki  Ashley Wagner Pairs  Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov  Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy  Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran Ice dancing  Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir  Meryl Davis / Charlie White  Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat===Medals by country===Table of medals for overall placement:Table of small medals for placement in the short segment:Table of small medals for placement in the free segment:
References
External links *  Starting orders and results at the International Skating Union*  Official website of Nice 2012*  Entries and schedule