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Is One The Loneliest Number? Ice Cold Facts About Skating First


"Skating No. 1 is disasterville. The judges tend to be conservative because there might be 20 skaters to go." - Olympic and World judge Dorothy Leamen, "The Ottawa Citizen", February 15, 1980

On a chilly February day in 1968 in Grenoble, France, a huddled mass of skaters and officials gathered in a room and by country, alphabetically drew numbers to determine their starting order for the women's school figures at the Winter Olympic Games. Thirty-one skaters drew their positions and only one number remained in the hat. By a process of elimination, the last skater to draw a slip, Galina Grzhibovskaya of the Soviet Union, was left with the dreaded starting position. Galina placed a dismal twenty-fifth out thirty-two women in the figures in those Games.

For many decades, there has been a negative perception surrounding being the first to skate in a competition, but this wasn't always in the case. In figure skating's early days, when competitions were held outdoors, many skaters were overjoyed when drawing lots resulted an earlier position in the starting order if Mother Nature wasn't being particularly benevolent. No one wanted to stand around for an hour waiting for their turn to perform in minus thirty degree weather, nor did they particularly relish the thought of risking a change in the weather. Many competitions that began with a light snowfall ended in a blizzard, and as weather conditions deteriorated, so too did the ice in the days before Zamboni's. The time of day even played a factor. Some competitions began at dusk and didn't conclude until the wee hours of the morning. If you skated last, chances are the exhausted judges would have a pretty hard time seeing the spectacular double Salchow you landed in the pitch dark.

ISU regulations pertaining to starting order, 1933

Though there were some skaters who drew the starting position in international competitions prior to 1935 who were far from pleased with it - Sonja Henie among them - it really wasn't until just before World War II broke out, three years after the Open Marking System was introduced, that skaters really began grumbling about drawing the number one. Though judges had already been forbidden from changing their marks after they'd recorded them, there was no real way of policing this until judges were required to display their marks on placards immediately following each performance. If a judge really wanted to go back and give higher marks to the first skater under the Closed Marking System, all they had to do was sneak a eraser from their jacket pocket when the referee wasn't looking.

Under the 6.0 system, the first skater to perform was highly unlikely to be given perfect marks by any judge worth their salt, no matter who they were, because of base marking and the desire to leave room for the skaters that followed. Though the marks themselves didn't really matter as much as the ordinals, skaters shuddered at drawing the starting position because they believed (often correctly) that twenty skaters later, their efforts would be overshadowed by someone else in the judge's eyes. 

The ISU's rules surrounding starting orders in 1948, reproduced in T.D. Richardson's book "The Complete Figure Skater"

The ISU tinkered with its rules surrounding starting orders in the forties and fifties numerous times in an effort to address the inherent problems, first implementing a system whereby skaters were placed in groups based on results in school figures and compulsory dances, then reverting to a random draw, reinstituting modified seeded draws, then scrapping them again. At the 1972 World Championships in Calgary, a rotating start order was tried for the first time in the ice dance event.  Another interesting first took place at a Canadian-hosted Worlds in 1984, when the organizers in Ottawa used colour computer graphics to illustrate the starting orders for the first time at an ISU Championship.

An explanation of how starting orders worked from the program of the 1978 World Championships

The belief that skating first is a death sentence has been disproven a handful of times over the years. The very first time figure skating was included in the Olympic Games in 1908, Ulrich Salchow was the first skater and the eventual winner of the men's event. Tenley Albright and Katarina Witt drew the starting positions in the figures when they won Olympic gold medals in 1956 and 1988. Two-time Olympic Gold Medallists Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov were the first to skate the compulsory connected (short) program at the 1968 Games.

Tenley Albright. Photo courtesy Boston Public Library.r

However, chalking the negative connotation of skating first down to superstition is equally misguided. Earlier skaters have not only been at a psychological disadvantage, but often performed in half-empty arenas. Anyone who has ever skated competitively (or appeared in front of an audience in any capacity, for that matter) can attest to the differences between performing in front of a small, indifferent crowd as opposed to a large, supportive one.

When the IJS system was first being rolled out in 2003, an article in "The Province" claimed:

"OLD: Starting order may have had negative consequences.
NEW: Starting order has no negative consequence.
OLD: Skaters could not win from a lower position without help from another.
NEW: Skaters can win from a lower position after the short program by their own ability."

If this was a goal of the IJS system, it certainly rarely delivered. Under the 6.0 system, there were at least a dozen examples of skaters drawing the starting position and winning gold medals at the World Championships. Since the IJS system was first used at the World Championships in 2005, a grand total of - wait for it! - zero skaters have drawn the starting position in any phase of any competition at the Worlds and won a gold medal. 

Various changes and tweaks have been made to the ISU's rules with regard to starting orders during the last two decades. The current rules, which take into account ISU World Standings, make it impossible for skaters with past success to draw early starting orders. They also make it impossible for up-and-coming skaters from developing skating nations to benefit from a later starting position.

In order to gain a better sense of just how much an impact drawing the starting position has had on skaters historically, I started compiling historical data from past Winter Olympics and World Championships from old newspaper clippings, magazine articles and materials housed in libraries and archives. A very special thanks to Karen Cover, the archivist at the World Figure Skating Museum and Hall Of Fame, Frazer Ormondroyd, Dr. Jaochim Bürgschwentner of the Stadtarchiv in Innsbruck, Dr. Matthias Hampe, Sasha Cantet at The Olympic Studies Centre and Carol Stokes, the City Of Calgary's archivist, for their great assistance with this. 

This data, though far from complete, shows in black and white how the luck of the draw went from being often inconsequential during the days of closed marking to the hindrance it arguably is today despite a judging system not based on the principle of directly comparing skaters with one another.

OLYMPICS - MEN

Year

First To Skate (FS)

Placement (FS)

First To Skate (SP)

Placement (SP)

1908

Ulrich Salchow

1/7

N/A

N/A

1920

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1924

Melville Rogers

8/11

N/A

N/A

1928

Montgomery Wilson

16/16 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1932

Gail Borden II

9/12

N/A

N/A

1936

Kazuyoshi Oimatsu

19/25

N/A

N/A

1948

Hellmut May

7/16

N/A

N/A

1952

Kalle Tuulos

13/14

N/A

N/A

1956

Tilo Gutzeit

11/16

N/A

N/A

1960

Robin Jones    

11/18

N/A

N/A

1964

Markus Germann

23/24

N/A

N/A

1968

Lee Kwang-yeong

28/28 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1972

Gheorghe Fazekas

17/17 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1976

Glyn Jones

16/16 (Last Place)

Stan Bohonek

15/17

1980

Brian Pockar

12/16

(no data)

(no data)

1984

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1988

Michael Huth        

23/24

Kang Ho

28/28 (Last Place)

1992

Ralph Burghart

18/23

Henrik Walentin

24/30

1994

Fumihiro Oikawa

22/24

Brian Boitano

8/25

1998

Gilberto Viadana

23/24

Zhengxin Guo

10/29

2002

Sergei Rylov

22/24

Michael Weiss

8/28

2006

Tomáš Verner

15/24

Daisuke Takahashi

5/30

2010

Tomáš Verner

17/24

Ri Song-chol

25/30 (DNQ for FS)

2014

Alexei Bychenko

21/24

Liam Firus

28/29 (DNQ for FS)

2018

Deniss Vasiļjevs

20/24

Felipe Montoya

29/30 (DNQ for FS)

OLYMPICS - WOMEN

Year

First To Skate (FS)

Placement (FS)

First To Skate (SP)

Placement (SP)

1908

Elna Montgomery

5/5 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1920

Svea Norén

3/6

N/A

N/A

1924

Sonja Henie

6/8

N/A

N/A

1928

Theresa Weld Blanchard

13/20

N/A

N/A

1932

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1936

Hertha Frey-Dexler

19/33

N/A

N/A

1948

Maja Hug

19/25

N/A

N/A

1952

Lidy Stoppelman

23/24

N/A

N/A

1956

Jindra Kramperová

17/21

N/A

N/A

1960

Nicole Hassler   

11/26

N/A

N/A

1964

Sally-Anne Stapleford

19/30

N/A

N/A

1968

Haruko Ishida

25/31

N/A

N/A

1972

Marina Sanaya

18/19

N/A

N/A

1976

Sharon Burley

20/20 (Last Place)

Grażyna Dudek

20/20 (Last Place)

1980

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1984

Bao Zhenghua

22/23

Bao Zhenghua

21/23

1988

Gina Fulton

23/23 (Last Place)

Petya Gavazova

26/31 (DNQ for FS)

1992

Suzanne Otterson

22/23

(no data)

(no data)

1994

Lily Lee

20/24

Susan Humphreys

26/27 (DNQ for FS)

1998

Alisa Drei

19/24

Maria Butyrskaya

3/28

2002

Vanessa Giunchi

20/23

Stephanie Zhang

25/27 (DNQ for FS)

2006

Silvia Fontana

22/24

Tuğba Karademir

22/29

2010

Tuğba Karademir

24/24 (Last Place)

Sonia Lafuente

22/30

2014

Park So-youn

19/24

Elena Glebova

29/30 (DNQ for FS)

2018

Alexia Paganini

22/24

Bradie Tennell

11/30

OLYMPICS - PAIRS

Year

First To Skate (FS)

Placement (FS)

First To Skate (SP)

Placement (SP)

1908

Madge and Edgar Syers

3/3

N/A

N/A

1920

(no data)    

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1924

Ludovika and Walter Jakobsson

2/9

N/A

N/A

1928

Ilse Kishauer and Ernst Gaste

8/13

N/A

N/A

1932

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1936

Audrey Garland and Fraser Sweatman

12/18

N/A

N/A

1948

Herta and Emil Ratzenhofer

9/14

N/A

N/A

1952

Peri Horne and Raymond Lockwood

11/13

N/A

N/A

1956

Joyce Coates and Anthony Holles

10/11

N/A

N/A

1960

Margret Göbl and Franz Ningel

5/13

N/A

N/A

1964

Tatiana Zhuk and Alexander Gavrilov

5/17

N/A

N/A

1968

Betty and John McKilligan

17/18

Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov

1/18

1972

Kotoe Nagasawa and Hiroshi Nagakubo

16/16 (Last Place)

Corinna Halke and Eberhard Rausch

10/16

1976

Candy Jones and Don Fraser

14/14 (Last Place)

Kerstin Stolfig and Veit Kempe

7/14

1980

Elizabeth and Peter Cain

11/11 (Last Place)

Elizabeth and Peter Cain

10/11

1984

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1988

Mei Zhibin and Li Wei

14/14 (Last Place)

Mei Zhibin and Li Wei

15/15 (Last Place)

1992

Kathryn Pritchard and Jason Briggs

17/18

Jenni Meno and Scott Wendland

12/18

1994

Yelena Grigoryeva and Sergey Sheyko

17/17 (Last Place)

Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen

15/18

1998

Inga Rodionova and Aleksandr Anichenko

18/20

Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz

11/20

2002

Maria Krasiltseva and Artem Znachkov

20/20 (Last Place)

Michela Cobisi and Ruben de Pra

19/20

2006

Rumyana Spasova and Stanimir Todorov

18/19

Marina Aganina and Artem Knyazev

15/20

2010

Maylin Hausch and Daniel Wende

15/20

Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao

1/20

2014

Felicia Zhang and Nate Bartholomay

12/16

Narumi Takahashi and Ryuichi Kihara

18/20 (DNQ for FS)

2018

Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro

9/16

Kim Kyu-eun and Alex Kang-chan Kam

22/22 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

OLYMPICS - ICE DANCE

Year

First To Skate (FD)

Placement (FD)

First To Skate (OSP/OD/SD, etc.)

Placement (SP)

First To Skate (CD)

Placement (CD)

1976

Stefania Bertelè and Walter Cecconi

17/17 (Last Place)

Barbara Berezowski and David Porter

10/18

Susan Carscallen and Eric Gillies, 

14/18

1980

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1984

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1988

Honorata Górna and Andrzej Dostatni

17/20 

Honorata Górna and Andrzej Dostatni

17/20

Monica MacDonald and Rodney Clarke

20/20 (Last Place)

1992

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1994

Svitlana Chernikova and Oleksandr Sosnenko

19/21

Bérangère Nau and Luc Monéger

15/21

Tatiana Navka and Samuel Gezalian

11/21

1998

Aya Kawai and Hiroshi Tanaka

23/24

Dominique Deniaud and Martial Jaffredo

21/24

Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow, Diane Gerenser and Pasquale Camerlengo

7/24, 17/24

2002

Beata Handra and Charles Sinek

23/24

Beata Handra and Charles Sinek

22/24

Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder

1/24, 14/24

2006

Alexandra Kauc and Michał Zych

22/23

Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe

12/24

Anastasia Grebenkina and Vazgen Azrojan

22/24

2010

Kamila Hájková and David Vincour

21/23

Allison Reed and Otar Japaridze

21/23

Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte

12/23

2014

Tanja Kolbe and Stefano Caruso

19/20

Cathy and Chris Reed

21/24 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

2018

Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac

17/20

Cortney Mansour and Michal Češka

23/24 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - MEN

Year

First To Skate (FS)

Placement (FS or Overall)

First To Skate (SP)

Placement (SP)

1896

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1897

Thidolf Borgh

4/6

N/A

N/A

1898

Gilbert Fuchs

3/4

N/A

N/A

1899

Ulrich Salchow

2/3

N/A

N/A

1900

Gustav Hügel

1/2

N/A

N/A

1901

Ulrich Salchow

1/2

N/A

N/A

1902

Horatio Tertuliano Torromé

4/4 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1903

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1904

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1905

Richard Johansson

4/5

N/A

N/A

1906

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1907

Martinus Löhrdahl

7/7 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1908

Heinrich Burger

3/3

N/A

N/A

1909

Ernst Herz

3/5

N/A

N/A

1910

Ulrich Salchow

1/4

N/A

N/A

1911

Dunbar Poole

7/7 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1912

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1913

Paul Metzner

8/8 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1914

Ivan Malinin

6/14

N/A

N/A

1922

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1923

Willy Böckl

2/6

N/A

N/A

1924

Willy Böckl

2/7

N/A

N/A

1925

Ludwig Wrede

7/7 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1926

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1927

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1928

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1929

Ian Home Bowhill

7/7 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1930

William Nagle

8/8 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1931

Marcus Nikkanen

7/13

N/A

N/A

1932

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1933

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1934

Gail Borden II

8/8 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1935

Elemér Terták

6/8

N/A

N/A

1936

Lucian Büeler

17/17 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1937

Felix Kaspar

1/11

N/A

N/A

1938

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1939

Elemér Terták

6/11

N/A

N/A

1947

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1948

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1949

Austin Holt

7/10

N/A

N/A

1950

Per Cock-Clausen

9/9 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1951

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1952

Peter Firstbrook

7/11

N/A

N/A

1953

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1954

David Jenkins

4/11

N/A

N/A

1955

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1956

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1957

Hubert Köpfler

12/17

N/A

N/A

1958

Tim Brown

2/23

N/A

N/A

1959

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1960

Robin Jones

14/17

N/A

N/A

1962

Per Kjølberg

15/18

N/A

N/A

1963

William Neale

15/19

N/A

N/A

1964

Sepp Schönmetzler

10/19

N/A

N/A

1965

Hywel Evans

20/20 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1966

Tsuguhiko Kozuka

19/21

N/A

N/A

1967

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1968

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1969

Jay Humphry

3/17

N/A

N/A

1970

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1971

Klaus Grimmelt

19/21

N/A

N/A

1972

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1973

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1974

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1975

Flemming Söderquist

22/22 (Last Place)

Billy Schober

20/22

1976

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1977

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1978

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1979

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1980

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1981

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1982

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1983

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1984

Mark Cockerell

13/15

Cho Jae-hyung

25/25 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

1985

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1986

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1987

(no data)

(no data)

Tomislav Cizmesija

26/27 (DNQ for FS)

1988

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1989

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1990

Oula Jääskeläinen

20/20 (Last Place)

(no data)

(no data)

1991

Cameron Medhurst

18/20

Paul Wylie

20/33

1992

Zhongyi Jiao

20/24

Oula Jääskeläinen

30/35 (DNQ for FS)

1993

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1994

Markus Leminen

24/24 (Last Place)

(no data)

(no data)

1995

Naoki Shigematsu

23/24

Ronny Winkler

19/30

1996

Neil Wilson

20/24

Patrick Meier

25/29 (DNQ for FS)

1997

Patrick Meier

23/24

Patrick Meier

26/31

1998

Sven Meyer

22/24

Steven Cousins

7/30

1999

Markus Leminen

23/24

Cornel Gheorghe

28/30 (DNQ for FS)

2000

Konstantin Kostin

23/24

Vakhtang Murvanidze

25/30 (DNQ for FS)

2001

Dmitri Dmitrenko

24/24 (Last Place)

Robert Kazimir

27/30 (DNQ for FS)

2002

Sergei Davydov

24/24 (Last Place)

Tomáš Verner

26/30 (DNQ for FS)

2003

Tomáš Verner

21/24

Sergei Kotov

27/30 (DNQ for FS)

2004

Neil Wilson

22/23

Neil Wilson

23/30

2005

Min Zhang

12/23

Zoltan Toth

25/30 (DNQ for FS)

2006

Andrei Griazev

16/24

Karel Zelenka

24/30 (DNQ for FS)

2007

Ryan Bradley

13/24

Dong-Whun Lee

34/42 (DNQ for FS)

2008

Azbal Rakimgaliev

24/24 (Last Place)

Tigran Vardanjan

44/45 (DNQ for FS)

2009

Javier Fernández

19/24

Mikael Redin

42/50 (DNQ for FS)

2010

Jinlin Guan

16/24

Maxim Shipov

43/46 (DNQ for FS)

2011

Paolo Bacchini

20/24

Viktor Pfeifer

26/30 (DNQ for FS)

2012

Misha Ge

23/24

Sergei Voronov

17/30

2013

Justus Strid

24/24 (Last Place)

Azbal Rakimgaliev

28/34 (DNQ for FS)

2014

Elladj Baldé

17/23

Maciej Cieplucha

21/32

2015

Takahiko Kozuka

9/24

Ivan Righini

25/30 (DNQ for FS)

2016

Michael Christian Martinez

18/24

Ivan Pavlov

24/30

2017

Michael Christian Martinez

24/24 (Last Place)

Larry Loupolover

36/36 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2018

Julian Zhi Jie Yee

20/24

Slavik Hayrapetyan

23/37

2019

Alexei Bychenko

22/24

Paul Fentz

28/35 (DNQ for FS)

2021

Aleksandr Selevko

15/24

Valtter Virtanen

31/33 (DNQ for FS)

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN

Year

First To Skate (FS)

Placement (FS or Overall)

First To Skate (SP)

Placement (SP)

1906

Madge Syers

1/5

N/A

N/A

1907

Elsa Rendschmidt

4/5

N/A

N/A

1908

Lili Kronberger

1/2

N/A

N/A

1909

Lili Kronberger

1/1

N/A

N/A

1910

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1911

Lili Kronberger

1/3

N/A

N/A

1912

Ludovika Jakobsson

7/7 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1913

Magda Mauroy

6/8

N/A

N/A

1914

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1922

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1923

Ethel Muckelt

4/4 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1924

Sonja Henie

5/7

N/A

N/A

1925

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1926

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1927

Herma Szabo

2/4

N/A

N/A

1928

Kathleen Shaw

6/6 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1929

Melitta Brunner

3/6

N/A

N/A

1930

Constance Wilson Samuel

4/6

N/A

N/A

1931

Yvonne de Ligne

8/9

N/A

N/A

1932

Fritzi Burger

2/14

N/A

N/A

1933

Sonja Henie

1/9

N/A

N/A

1934

Erna Andersen

10/13

N/A

N/A

1935

Gweneth Butler

5/8

N/A

N/A

1936

Sonja Henie

1/17

N/A

N/A

1937

Megan Taylor

2/12

N/A

N/A

1938

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1939

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1947

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1948

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1949

Jiřína Nekolová

4/10

N/A

N/A

1950

Dagmar Lerchová

12/14

N/A

N/A

1951

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1952

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1953

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1954

Miggs Dean

15/20

N/A

N/A

1955

Miggs Dean

16/19

N/A

N/A

1956

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1957

Alice Fischer

20/20 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1958

Nicole Hassler

23/29

N/A

N/A

1959

Ina Bauer

4/14

N/A

N/A

1960

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1962

Victoria Fisher

16/21

N/A

N/A

1963

Shirra Kenworthy

20/24

N/A

N/A

1964

Hana Mašková

16/21

N/A

N/A

1965

Kumiko Okawa

12/18

N/A

N/A

1966

Beate Richter

19/20

N/A

N/A

1967

Zsuzsa Szentmiklóssy

21/22

N/A

N/A

1968

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1969

Kazumi Yamashita

10/17

N/A

N/A

1970

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1971

Sonja Balun

20/22

N/A

N/A

1972

Marina Sanaya

17/21

N/A

N/A

1973

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1974

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1975

Karin Iten

27/27 (Last Place)

Sophie Verlaan

26/27

1976

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1977

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1978

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1979

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1980

Liu Zhiying

28/29

(no data)

(no data)

1981

Denyse Adam

30/31

(no data)

(no data)

1982

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1983

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1984

Hyi-Sung Kim

23/23 (Last Place)

(no data)

(no data)

1985

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1986

(no data)

(no data)

Constanze Gensel

19/27

1987

Helene Persson

19/23

Petya Gavazova

25/27 (DNQ for FS)

1988

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1989

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1990

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1991

Lisa Sargeant

18/20

Milena Marinovich

32/37 (DNQ for FS)

1992

Irena Zemanová

21/24

Juanita-Anne Yorke

39/30 (DNQ for FS)

1993

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1994

Ying Liu

23/23 (Last Place)

Susan Humphreys

10/23

1995

Jenna Arrowsmith

24/24 (Last Place)

Jenna Arrowsmith

29/31

1996

Jennifer Robinson

20/24

Vanessa Gusmeroli

18/30

1997

Yulia Vorobieva

20/23

Marta Andrade

28/30 (DNQ for FS)

1998

Mojca Kopač

24/24 (Last Place)

Alisa Drei

25/30 (DNQ for FS)

1999

Fumie Suguri

21/24

Olga Vassiljeva

30/30 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2000

Zoya Douchine

18/24

Marion Krijgsman

30/30 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2001

Zuzana Babiaková

24/24 (Last Place)

Roxana Luca

26/30 (DNQ for FS)

2002

Julia Soldatova

17/23

Miriam Manzano

18/29

2003

Anne-Sophie Calvez

21/24

Miriam Manzano

25/30 (DNQ for FS)

2004

Jenna McCorkell

24/24 (Last Place)

Ji-Eun Choi

30/30 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2005

Candice Didier

23/24

Tuğba Karademir

26/30 (DNQ for FS)

2006

Valentina Marchei

23/24

Tuğba Karademir

22/30

2007

Tamar Katz

22/24

Ami Parekh

44/45 (DNQ for FS)

2008

Elene Gedevanishvili

18/23

Morgan Figgins

52/53 (DNQ for FS)

2009

Ana Cecelia Cantu

24/24 (Last Place)

Clara Peters

52/53 (DNQ for FS)

2010

Anastasia Gimazetdinova

23/24

Clara Peters

47/53 (DNQ for FS)

2011

Irina Movchan

23/24

Karina Johnson

26/30 (DNQ for FS)

2012

Alisa Mikonsaari

24/24 (Last Place)

Clara Peters

29/30 (DNQ for FS)

2013

Sonia Lafuente

23/24

Patricia Gleščič

34/35 (DNQ for FS)

2014

Valentina Marchei

14/23

Netta Schreiber

33/33 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2015

Nicole Schott

23/24

Netta Schreiber

30/35 (DNQ for FS)

2016

Viveca Lindfors

16/24

Kristen Spours

36/38 (DNQ for FS)

2017

Zijun Li

20/24

Anne Line Gjersem

34/37 (DNQ for FS)

2018

Alexia Paganini

22/23

Dasa Grm

22/37

2019

Natasha McKay

21/24

Hongyi Chen

15/40

2021

Lindsay van Zundert

15/24

Lindsay van Zundert

24/37

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - PAIRS

Year

First To Skate (FS)

Placement (FS or Overall)

First To Skate (SP)

Placement (SP)

1908

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1909

Alexia Schøien and Yngvar Bryn

5/5 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1910

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1911

Ludovika Eilers and Walter Jakobsson

1/1

N/A

N/A

1912

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1913

Elly Svensson and Per Thorén

5/7

N/A

N/A

1914

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1922

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1923

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1924

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1925

Herma Szabo and Ludwig Wrede

1/5

N/A

N/A

1926

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1927

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1928

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1929

Melitta Brunner and Ludwig Wrede

2/7

N/A

N/A

1930

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1931

Elisabeth Böckel and Otto Hayek

9/9 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1932

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1933

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1934

Randi Bakke and Christen Christensen

5/6

N/A

N/A

1935

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1936

Louise Bertram and Stewart Reburn

4/6

N/A

N/A

1937

Ilse and Erik Pausin

2/8

N/A

N/A

1938

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1939

Erika Bass and Béla Barcza

8/10

N/A

N/A

1947

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1948

Suzanne Morrow and Wallace Distelmeyer

3/14

N/A

N/A

1949

Andrea Kékesy and Ede Király

1/12

N/A

N/A

1950

Denise and Jacques Favart

12/12 (Last Place)

N/A

N/A

1951

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1952

Karol and Peter Kennedy

2/10

N/A

N/A

1953

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1954

Britta Lindmark and Ulf Berendt

9/10

N/A

N/A

1955

Marianna and László Nagy

3/12

N/A

N/A

1956

Marika Kilius and Franz Ningel

3/11

N/A

N/A

1957

Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul

1/5

N/A

N/A

1958

Maria and Otto Jelinek

3/15

N/A

N/A

1959

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1960

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

1962

Judianne and Jerry Fotheringill

10/13

N/A

N/A

1963

Linda Ann Ward and Neil Carpenter

11/12

N/A

N/A

1964

Mária Csordás and László Kondi

12/13         Gerlinde Schönbauer and Willy Bietak13/13 (Last Place)

1965

Susan and Paul Huehnergard    

14/14 (Last Place)Irene Müller and Hans-Georg Dallmer

8/14

1966

Gerlinde Schönbauer and Willy Bietak

14/15

Gerlinde Schönbauer and Willy Bietak

13/15

1967

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1968

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1969

Melissa and Mark Militano

8/13

Liana Drahová and Peter Bartosiewicz

12/14

1970

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1971

Karin and Christian Künzle

16/17

Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov

1/18

1972

Heidemarie Steiner and Heinz-Ulrich Walther

3/17

Almut Lehmann and Herbert Wiesinger

4/15

1973

(no data)

(no data)

Gale and Joel Fuhrman

15f16

1974

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1975

Kathy Hutchinson and Jamie McGrigor

14/14 (Last Place)

Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner

10/14

1976

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1977

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1978

(no data)

(no data)

Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev

1/16

1979

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1980

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1981

(no data)

(no data)

Susan Garland and Robert Daw

8/11

1982

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1983

(no data)

(no data)

Sabine Baeß and Tassilo Thierbach

1/17

1984

Babette Preußler and Tobias Schröter

9/10

Lea Ann Miller and Bill Fauver

9/12

1985

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1986

Cheryl Peake and Andrew Naylor

12/15

(no data)

(no data)

1987

Danielle and Stephen Carr

12/13

Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev

2/13

1988

(no data)

(no data)

Denise Benning and Lyndon Johnston

6/16

1989

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1990

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1991

Saskia and Guy Bourgeois

18/19

Rena Inoue and Tomoaki Koyama

16/19

1992

Katarzyna Głowacka and Krzysztof Korcarz

16/20

Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler

2/20

1993

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1994

(no data)

(no data)

Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen

14/28

1995

Ulrike Gerstl and Bjorn Lobenwein

20/21

Marina Khalturina and Andrei Krukov

15/21

1996

Olga Boguslavska and Juri Salmonov

23/23 (Last Place)

Mandy Wötzel and Ingo Steuer

1/23

1997

Inga Rodionova and Aleksandr Anichenko

21/23

Maria Krasiltseva and Alexander Chestnikh

23/25

1998

Jelena Sirokhvatova and Juri Salmanov

19/20

Inga Rodionova and Aleksandr Anichenko

18/20

1999

Ekaterina Danko and Gennadi Emeljenenko

18/19

Peggy Schwarz and Mirko Müller

9/21

2000

Oľga Beständigová and Josef Beständig

18/19

Catherine Huc and Vivien Rolland

21/22 (DNQ for FS)

2001

Maria Krasiltseva and Artem Znachkov

19/19 (Last Place)

Ivana Durin and Andrei Maximov

24/24 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2002

Viktoria Shklover and Valdis Mintals

17/20

Valérie Marcoux and Bruno Marcotte

12/20

2003

Diana Rennik and Aleksei Saks

19/20

Olga Boguslavska and Andrei Brovenko

21/21 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2004

Marina Aganina and Artem Knyazev

19/19 (Last Place)

Marina Aganina and Artem Knyazev

19/19 (Last Place)

2005

Julia Shapiro and Vadim Akolzin

18/19

Julia Shapiro and Vadim Akolzin

17/20

2006

Emma Brien and Stuart Beckingham

20/20 (Last Place)

Mari Vartmann and Florian Just

19/20

2007

Angelina Pylkina and Niklas Hogner

15/18

Brooke Castile and Benjamin Okolski

14/22

2008

Ariel Fay Gagnon and Chad Tsagris

18/20

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy

2/20

2009

Nicole Della Monica and Yannick Kocon

18/20

Nina Ivanova and Filip Zalevski

23/25 (DNQ for FS)

2010

Anaïs Morand and Antoine Dorsaz

14/16

Jennifer Crenshaw and Chad Tsagris

21/25 (DNQ for FS)

2011

Natalia Zabiiako and Sergei Kulbach

16/16 (Last Place)

Danielle Montalbano and Evgeni Krasnopolski

20/22 (DNQ for FS)

2012

Mari Vartmann and Aaron Van Cleave

14/16

Mari Vartmann and Aaron Van Cleave

16/20

2013

Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir

12/16

Magdalena Klatka and Radoslaw Chruscinski1

18/18 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2014

Maylin and Daniel Wende

13/16

Miriam Ziegler and Severin Kiefer

22/23 (DNQ for FS)

2015

Amani Fancy and Christopher Boyadji

16/16 (Last Place)

Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch

11/19

2016

Lola Esbrat and Andrei Novoselov

16/16 (Last Place)

Xuehan Wang and Lei Wang

15/22

2017

Tae Ok Ryom and Ju Sik Kim

15/16

Ioulia Chtchetinina and Noah Scherer

28/28 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2018

Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor

16/16 (Last Place)

Elizaveta Kashitsyna and Mark Magyar

28/28 (Last Place, DNQ for FS)

2019

Hanna Abrazhevich and Martin Bidar

18/19

Tae Ok Ryom and Ju Sik Kim

13/19

2021

Bogdana Lukashevich and Alexander Stepanov

17/20

Elizaveta Zhuk and Martin Bidar

16/24

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - ICE DANCE


Year

First To Skate (FD)

Placement (FD or Overall)

First To Skate (OSP/OD/SD, etc.)

Placement (SP)

First To Skate (CD)

Placement (CD)

1950

Sybil Cooke and Robert S. Hudson

2/6

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1951

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1952

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1953

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1954

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1955

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1956

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1957

Kay Morris and Michael Robinson

6/11

N/A

N/A

Carmel and Ed Bodel

7/11

1958

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

Annick de Tretinian and Jacques Mer

11/16

1959

Svata and Mirek Staroba

8/9

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1960

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1962

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1963

Jitka Babická and Jaromír Holan

14/18

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1964

Diane Towler and Bernard Ford    

13/16

N/A

N/A

Yvonne Suddick and Roger Kennerson4/16

1965

Lynn Matthews and Byron Topping

11/14

N/A

N/A

Györgyi Korda and Pál Vásárhelyi11/14

1966

Susan and Stanley Urban

14/16

N/A

N/A

Kristin Fortune and Dennis Sveum

2/16

1967

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1968

(no data)

(no data)

N/A

N/A

(no data)

(no data)

1969

Ilona Berecz and István Sugár

14/15

Ilona Berecz and István Sugár

12/15

Ilona Berecz and István Sugár

12/15

1970

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1971

Brigitte Scheijbal and Walter Leschetizky

20/20 (Last Place)

(no data)

(no data)

Judy Schwomeyer and Jim Sladky

2/20

1972

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

Keiko Achiwa and Yasuhiro Noto

16/16 (Last Place)

1973

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1974

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1975

Halina Gordon and Wojciech Bańkowski

14/14 (Last Place)

Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov

2/14

(no data)

(no data)

1976

Susan Kelley and Andrew Stroukoff

17/19

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1977

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1978

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1979

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1980

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1981

Karen and Douglas Mankovich

21/21 (Last Place)

(no data)

(no data)

Karen and Douglas Mankovich

18/21

1982

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1983

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1984

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1985

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1986

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1987

Hristina Boyanova and Yavor Ivanov

21/22

Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko

21/22

Suzanne Semanick and Scott Gregory, Kyung Sook Park and Seung Jon Han, Kathrin and Christoff Beck

5/22, 22/22 (Last Place), 6/22

1988

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1989

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1990

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1991

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1992

Kaoru and Kenji Takino

22/24

Penny Mann and Juan Carlos Noria

16/26

(no data)

(no data)

1993

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1994

Nakako Tsuzuki and Kazu Nakamura

24/24 (Last Place)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

(no data)

1995

Kaho Koinuma and Tigran Arakelyan

24/24 (Last Place)

Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh

15/24

(no data)

(no data)

1996

(no data)

(no data)

Allison MacLean and Konrad Schaub

18/30

Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas, Chantal Loyer and Justin Bell

9/33, 28/33

1997

Aya Kawai and Hiroshi Tanaka

23/24

Aya Kawai and Hiroshi Tanaka

21/24

Irina Romanova and Igor Yaroshenko, Kati Winkler and René Lohse

8/30, 14/30

1998

Dominique Deniaud and Martial Jaffredo

23/24

Jessica Joseph and Charles Butler

29/30 (DNQ for FD)

Jessica Joseph and Charles Butler, Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski

26/30 (DNQ for FD), 15/30

1999

Pia-Maria Gustafsson and Antti Grönlund

25/25 (Last Place)

Pia-Maria Gustafsson and Antti Grönlund

31/31 (Last Place)

Danielle Rigg-Smith and Trent Nelson-Bond, Eliane and Daniel Hugentobler

32/32 (Last Place, DNQ for FD), 17/32

2000

Julie Keeble and Lukasz Zalewski

21/22

Zuzana Durkovska and Marian Mesaros

28/30 (DNQ for FD)

Tiffany Hyden and Vazgen Azrojan, Julie Keeble and Lukasz Zalewski

29/32 (DNQ for FD), 23/32

2001

Nakako Tsuzuki and Rinat Farkhoutdinov

24/24 (Last Place)

Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov

12/30

Valentina Anselmi and Fabrizio Pedrazzini, Weina Zhang and Xianming Cao, Zita Gebora and Andras Visontai, Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder

14/18 (DNQ for FD), 15/18 (DNQ for FD), 13/17, 8/17

2002

Rie Arikawa and Kenji Miyamoto

24/24 (Last Place)

Valentina Anselmi and Fabrizio Pedrazzini

22/28

Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali, Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski

14/28, 5/28

2003

Anastasia Grebenkina and Vazgen Azrojan

24/24 (Last Place)

Agnieszka Dulej and Slawonir Janicki

27/29 (DNQ for FS)

Anastasia Grebenkina and Vazgen Azrojan, Roxane Petetin and Mathieu Jost

13/14, 12/15

2004

Fang Yang and Chongbo Gao

23/24

Josée Piché and Pascal Denis

24/29

Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov, Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto

7/15, 4/14

2005

Julia Golovina and Oleg Voiko

21/24

Christina and William Beier

20/30

Daniela and Fabian Keller

29/30 (DNQ for FD)

2006

Alexandra and Roman Zaretski

20/24

Laura and Luke Munana

27/29 (DNQ for FD)

Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski

6/30

2007

Katherine Copely and Deividas Stagniunas

22/24

Katherine Copely and Deividas Stagniunas

20/29

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir

9/29

2008

Leonie Krail and Oscar Peter

24/24 (Last Place)

Kamila Hajkova and David Vincour

25/30 (DNQ for FD)

Xiayang Yu and Chen Wang

23/31

2009

Xintong Huang and Xun Zheng

22/24

Leonie Krail and Oscar Peter

27/30 (DNQ for FD)

Ksenia Shmirina and Yahor Maistrov

30/30 (Last Place, DNQ for FD)

2010

Cathy and Chris Reed

13/19

Caitlin Mallory and Kristjan Rand

21/26 (DNQ for FD)

Jenette Maitz and Alper Ucar

27/27 (DNQ for FD)

2011

Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri

19/20

Brooke Elizabeth Frieling and Lionel Rumi

24/25 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

2012

Sara Hurtado Martin and Adrià Díaz

18/20

Siobhan Heekin-Canedy and Dmitri Dun

17/25

N/A

N/A

2013

Cathy and Chris Reed

20/20 (Last Place)

Allison Reed and Vasili Rogov

23/29 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

2014

Sara Hurtado Martin and Adrià Díaz

17/20

Tanja Kolbe and Stefano Caruso

21/32 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

2015

Carolina Moscheni and Adam Lukacs

18/20

Cecilia Törn and Jussiville Partanen

25/29 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

2016

Alexandra Nazarova and Maxim Nakitin

18/20

Elisabeth Paradis and Francois-Xavier Ouellette

23/30 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

2017

Kavita Lorenz and Joti Polizoakis

18/20

Anastasia Galyeta and Avidan Brown

31/32 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

2018

Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu

17/20

Teodora Markova and Simon Daze

29/31 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

2019

Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius

17/20

Victoria Manni and Carlo Roethlisberger

23/27 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

2021

Alexandra Nazarova and Maxim Nikitin

18/20

Ekaterina Kuznetsova and Oleksandr Kolosovskyi

30/31 (DNQ for FD)

N/A

N/A

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

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