The International Skating Union (ISU) has finally canceled the world championship of figure skating, which was supposed to be held in March this year in Montreal. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the competition was initially postponed indefinitely, so there was an opportunity to hold it in the fall. However, following an online meeting, the ISU Council decided to completely abandon the idea of holding competitions. The main starts of the year in synchronized skating and short track were also canceled.
Now, skaters can not worry about possible failures in their training schedule, which could occur due to the postponement of the World Cup in the fall. The next championship of the planet will be held in March 2021 in Stockholm. Although any cancellation of the competition is a blow for athletes who wanted to win medals on them, for some people this turn of events can even be beneficial.
Men
Of course, among the lone skaters, Yuzuru Chania will suffer the most from the abolition of the championship in Montreal. The 25-year-old athlete amazes the fans endlessly with the fact that after two Olympic victories and many injuries he continues not only to go out on the ice, but also to remain one of the leaders in men's skating. This year, the Japanese continued to maintain their high level and broke the world record in the short program at the championship of four continents. Performing in Montreal, which is located next to his training rink in Toronto, could well have brought him a third gold medal.
American Nathan Chen was counting on the same title. The 21-year-old skater could become the second youngest ever triple world champion among singles after Alexei Yagudin. However, the abolition of the competition will allow him to concentrate on studying at Yale University, which occupies the same important place in his life as sports. Fans can only guess how this failed duel of two skaters at the peak of their career would end.
Most of all from the abolition of the World Cup should win Alexander Samarin. He was undoubtedly the strongest athlete who did not qualify for the competition. Confident that it was no longer possible to go to Montreal, the Russian began to learn new programs before other skaters had to abandon training because of quarantine. At the start of next season, this should bring him a slight advantage.
Women
Perhaps the most tragic in canceling the World Cup will be that the opportunity for another joint performance by Alena Kostornaya, Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova was missed. For the first time since 1991, skaters from one country could take all the places on the podium, and this was a very real scenario, even taking into account the competition from Japanese Ricky Kihira and American Brady Tennell.
Now the debut of the TSHK at the World Championships is postponed for a whole year, which certainly does not benefit the young skaters. In fact, as a result of this, they lose precious time and run the risk of no longer being three on the podium. One chance has already been missed, and whether the second will be is unknown. Earlier, many experts have repeatedly cautiously talked about whether girls will be able to go through the period of growing up without loss and continue to perform such complex elements in the future.
But those skaters, who can be classified as age, will get another chance to qualify for the World Cup. We are talking about Evgenia Medvedeva and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who still missed the main start of the season and have already set themselves the goal to fight with the TSC in the next season. Alina Zagitova, who will remain the world champion for two years, has a chance to resume her career.
Couples
In pair skating, the confrontation between the Chinese pair Sui Wenjing - Han Tsun and Russian duets will be delayed until better times. Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky did a brilliant job this season to be considered the main competitors of the current world champions. At least in the absentee fight, the students of Tamara Moskvina got the upper hand - their best result of the season, shown at the European Championships, was as much as six points higher than what the Chinese received at the home stage of the Grand Prix.
Evgeny Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who twice remained with silver, did not say their last word. Although this season they scored fewer points than before, but they should have been well prepared for the first world championship under the leadership of Marina Zueva. Moreover, they would not have to go through acclimatization after flying to North America.
It is unlikely that anyone would benefit from the cancellation of the World Cup - in Montreal all the couples who deserved it should have played. But you can still highlight some. The German skater Alyona Savchenko did not officially end her career after winning the Olympic Games, devoting the last two years to her family. However, she missed just one planetary tournament, not two. Now she will have more time to prepare for her return if such a decision is nevertheless made.
Dancing on Ice
Perhaps, among the dancers from the abolition of the World Cup, the main favorites of this discipline will win the most. Gabriela Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron risked losing their footing again in pursuit of their fifth title, as had already happened to them at the European Championships in Graz. After the defeat at the Olympics, they already needed a long break to recover. It is possible that the French planned to start a new season a little later than usual, and this would definitely reduce their chances of success in the autumn world championship.
And Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov lost the opportunity to compete with Papadakis and Sizeron in the world championship and for the first time in three years deprive them of a gold medal. The Russians additionally had to spur last year’s silver, which they obviously did not want to win again.
In general, if we talk about dancing on ice, then for this discipline, the rejection of the World Cup in the fall is a big plus than for other types of figure skating. Dancers urgently need to prepare their performances as long as possible and from start to start to win the sympathies of the judges - except that Papadakis and Sizeron have no such need. If singles and couples can still from the first competitions at least demonstrate complex elements that provide high scores, then dancers are deprived of this privilege. Their argument at the autumn world championship could well have been deprived of an objective assessment.