Moscow Confirmed as Replacement for Figure Skating Champs

March 25, 2011

The International Skating Union (ISU) has confirmed that the Russian capital of Moscow will be the host of this year’s World Figure Skating Championships after the Japan Skating Federation was forced to give up Tokyo’s staging rights in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami earlier this month.

The union received a number of applications to hold the event from the likes of Graz in Austria, allergy Zagreb in Croatia, Turku in Finland and Colorado Springs or Lake Placid in the United States, while the 2010 Winter Olympic host city of Vancouver in Canada had also expressed a desire to host the Championships.

However, yesterday, March 24, the ISU announced that the event would be held at the Megasport Arena in Moscow from April 24 to May 1. With only one month before the start of the Championships, Russia has pledged to speed up the processing of visas for participants.

A statement from the ISU read: “Under these extraordinary circumstances, we ask for the full co-operation and understanding of the skating community in making this a successful event. The full co-operation of all participating ISU member federations hopefully attending in full strength will be of utmost importance.”