by Matteo Morelli

This is it: after the excitement of the Winter Olympic Games, we are ready to dive into the last big event of the season, the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships, taking place in Prague, Czech Republic.

Thirty-one ice dance teams representing twenty-two countries will take to the ice to compete for the top spots. The post-Olympic World Championships are always full of surprises, from withdrawals by top teams to the challenges of a longer season that peaks with the Olympics for those competing, with a podium that could see new medallists earning the world medals.

The Medal Hunt

Entering as favourites to medal are France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, newly crowned Olympic champions who captured the most prestigious title in their first competitive season together as a new partnership. In addition to their Olympic gold, they have won both of their Grand Prix events, the French Nationals, Europeans, and captured silver at the Grand Prix Final. They will now aim to add a World title to their remarkable season.

Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are also in contention for the top spots. At their third Olympics, they finally earned the medal they had long desired, a bronze, in one of the most emotional moments of the Milano Cortina 2026 ice dance final. This will be their thirteenth World Championships appearance, having previously won four medals (two bronze and two silver). They will be joined by Olympic teammates Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, as well as Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac.

Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson were hoping for a higher placement at their second Olympics, where they finished seventh overall. However, they secured a second Grand Prix Final bronze this season and will aim to repeat or improve upon their World bronze from last year.

Gold and silver Olympic medallists Madison Chock and Evan Bates will not take a chance to win a fourth consecutive World title, officialising their withdrawal from the event shortly after the Olympics. Instead, U.S. vice champions Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik will make their World Championships debut. They will hope to continue enjoying the quick progression towards the top rankings that they are going through and pose a serious threat for a podium finish. This season, they won a bronze and a silver medal at their Grand Prix assignments, qualified for their first Grand Prix Final, won Four Continents, and collected an impressive fifth place finish at their first Winter Olympics. They will be joined by teammates Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, who also competed in Milan, and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons.

Europe continues to be incredibly competitive in the field. The other French team of Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud will enter their fifth World Championships together. This season, they finished fourth at the European Championships and eighth at the Winter Olympics. Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius were incredibly happy to not only qualify for their first Grand Prix Final but also to qualify to compete in Milano, where they collected a satisfying sixth-place finish.

Spain’s Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck finished ninth at the Winter Olympics and will head into their third World Championships together, hoping to continue to impress with their free dance on Dune Part II. The other Spanish team of Sofía Val and Asaf Kazimov had to withdraw due to Kazimov’s health reasons. Also absent are Olympics Team Event bronze medallists Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri, with the spots for Italy being taken by Victoria Manni and Carlo Röthlisberger, and Giulia Isabella Paolino and Andrea Tuba.

The two Czech teams are surely looking forward to competing in front of their home audiences: both Kateřina Mrázková and Daniel Mrázek, and Natálie Taschlerová and Filip Taschler, will make sure to enjoy every moment in what is expected to be a sold-out arena that will cheer for them as loudly as possible.

Event info: Teams have official practices from Tuesday, March 24. The rhythm dance kicks off on Friday, March 27, from 11:30am (CET); the free dance occurs on Saturday, March 28, from 6:30pm (CET).