Worlds Rewind: London 2013

With the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020 in Montreal, Quebec just around the corner, we continue to look back at previous world championships staged in Canada. The 10-part series concludes with the 2013 world championships in London, Ont.

It was perhaps the most dominant era in the history of Canadian figure skating.

As the 2013 ISU World Figure Skating Championships arrived in London, Ont., expectations were high for the host nation as skating’s flagship event came to Canada for the first time since Calgary in 2006.

In what turned out to be a drama-filled men’s free program, Patrick Chan claimed his third consecutive world title – but it did not come easy. Chan struggled in his free program while the late Denis Ten of Kazakhstan was simply sensational, beating his season’s best score by nearly 50 points.

As Ten finished his program, he crouched down and kissed the ice at Budweiser Gardens.

Despite his struggles, Chan scored 266.78 points overall, less than 1.3 points ahead of Ten. By winning silver, Ten became the first skater from Kazakhstan to win a medal at the world championships. Spain’s Javier Fernandez took the bronze medal.

The two best ice dance teams in the world once again went head to head in London, with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the 2010 Olympic gold medallists and reigning world champions, trying to hold off Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S.

The Americans defeated their archrivals to win back the world crown they had lost to the Canadians the previous year. Davis and White finished with a 189.56 total while Virtue and Moir scored 185.04.

Russians Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov dominated the pairs competition, winning gold by 20 points and setting world records in the free program (149.87) and total score (225.71).

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany won silver, finishing just one point ahead of Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, the bronze medallists. Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch finished just off the podium, in fourth.

Duhamel and Radford went on to win back-to-back world titles in 2015 and 2016.

In the ladies’ competition, Yuna Kim of South Korea, the 2010 Olympic champion, made a triumphant return to the world championships by winning gold.

Kaetlyn Osmond, who won Skate Canada International and the Canadian title in the 2012-13 season, won over the crowd in London, finishing eighth in her worlds debut. Osmond went on to win the world crown in 2018.

The 2013 ISU World Figure Championships marked the last time the event was held in Canada. In ten world championships on Canadian soil since 1932, there have been countless unforgettable moments, and memories, for skating fans.

And now, Montreal, it’s your turn.

Day tickets for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships ® 2020 are on sale now and can be purchased online at montreal2020.com, by phone at 1-877-668-8269 or in person at the Centre Bell Box Office.

2013 WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALLISTS

DISCIPLINE GOLD SILVER BRONZE
Men Patrick Chan (CAN) Denis Ten (KAZ) Javier Fernandez (SPA)
Ladies Yu-Na Kim (KOR) Carolina Kostner (ITA) Mao Asada (JPN)
Pairs Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov (RUS) Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy (GER) Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford (CAN)
Ice Dance Meryl Davis / Charlie White (USA) Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir (CAN) Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev (RUS)
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