How to qualify in Figure skating
How figure skaters qualify for the World Figure Skating Championships
Every ISU member country can send at least one skater (or pair, or couple) in each discipline (men, women, pairs, ice dance) to the World Championships, provided that skater has reached a minimum technical score.
A country can send two or three if its skaters did well at the previous year's World Championships. The rule adds up the placings of its skaters there (the best two, if it had three):
| Skaters who counted last year | Three entries if the placings add up to | Two entries if they add up to |
|---|---|---|
| Two | 13 or less | 28 or less |
| One | 2 or less | 10 or less |
So a country whose two men finished 4th and 7th (4 + 7 = 11) gets three men's entries next year; a country whose only woman finished 8th gets two women's entries.
Scoring placings for the count
- A skater who did not qualify for the free skate counts as 18 (singles); in pairs and dance, as their short programme or rhythm dance place, but never less than 18.
- A skater who reached the free skate but finished below 16th counts as 16 (or the number of competitors, if fewer than 16 took part).
- A skater who withdrew through certified illness, injury or equipment damage, while in the top ten after the short programme, is treated as not entered.
- A skater counts as "entered" if they were in the initial draw.
The minimum technical score
To enter, a skater must have reached the season's Combined Total Element Score (the technical score from both programmes) at an ISU event, the Olympic Games or an international competition with a Technical Panel Advisor, at senior level. The ISU Council sets the scores each season and publishes them in an ISU Communication before 1 August. From 2027-28, the Technical Panel Advisor condition applies to international competitions.
Other rules
- Entries by name are due 28 days before the first practice day.
- Each country may name one substitute per entry.
- Four Continents Championships: up to three per discipline, with the same minimum scores, for countries outside Europe.
India
An Indian skater would enter on the one-per-discipline right, once they have the season's minimum technical score.