The corresponding competition for Junior-level skaters is the World Junior Championships. The corresponding competition for synchronized skaters is the World Synchronized Skating Championships.
The World Championships were established in 1896. Originally, they contained only the men's event. There was no rule regarding women competing, so in 1902, Madge Syers-Cave competed and won the silver.
The 1903 ISU Congress considered gender issues but passed no new rules. Madge Syers-Cave entered the 1904 competition but withdrew due to injury. The 1905 Congress established a second class ladies competition. Winners were to be known as ISU, not World Champions. Men's and Ladies events were normally held separately. The first ladies competition was in 1906 and held in Davos.[1]
The first pairs competition was held in St. Petersburg in 1908, even though in some countries pairs competition was illegal and considered indecent. One such country was Japan, which had applied for the Winter Olympics in 1940. Ice dancing entered the program officially in 1952. It had been an unofficial part of the championships since 1936.
Originally judges were invited by the hosting country and very often completely local. Due to a judging controversy in the ladies event in 1927, this common practice was changed. From 1928 on, only one judge per country in each competition was allowed.
In 1960, the number of participants per country was limited to a maximum of three per discipline.
Because of the large number of entries at the World Championships, for some years the event included qualifying rounds for men and ladies in addition to the normal short program and free skating components. After the 2006 championships in Calgary, Canada, the ISU Congress voted to eliminate the qualifying round for single skaters, leaving just the short program and free skating. After the short program, the top 24 single skaters and top 20 pairs advance to the free skate. In ice dance, the top 30 couples in the compulsory dance advance to the original dance, and the top 24 couples after the original dance advance to the free dance.
Skaters qualify for the World Championships by belonging to a member nation of the ISU. Each country gets one entry in every discipline by default. The most entries a country can have in a single discipline is three. Countries earn a second or third entry for the following year's competition by earning points through skater placement. The points are equal to the sum of the placements of the country's skaters (top two if they have three). Entries do not carry over and so countries must continue to earn their second or third spot every year. If a country only has one skater/team, that skater/team must place in the top ten to earn a second entry and in the top two to earn three entries to next year's championships. If a country has two skaters/teams, the combined placement of those teams must be 13 or fewer to qualify 3 entries, and 28 or fewer to keep their two entries. If they do not do so, they only have one entry for the following year.
There are exceptions if a skater is forced to withdraw in the middle of the competition due to a medical emergency or equipment problems.
Which skaters from each country attend the World Championships is at the national governing body's discretion. Some countries rely on the results of their national championships while others have more varied criteria based on international success at competitions such as the European Figure Skating Championships and the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. Selections vary by country.
Skaters must be older than fifteen as of July 1st the previous year to compete. The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is the corresponding competition for skaters at age 13 to 19 who are not old enough for senior Worlds or do not qualify. In previous years there was a loophole that skaters who were not age-eligible for senior Worlds but had medalled at Junior Worlds could compete at senior Worlds, but this loophole has since been closed.
