2026 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

The final Single, Pair and Ice Dance event of the skating season, the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, took place in Prague, Czechia. As with any year when the Winter Olympics takes place, it seems to be a longer season than usual. However it is a chance for a final outing for many skaters who may not have had the opportunity to compete at the Olympics or for skaters to aim for personal bests with a final performance of programs they have worked hard on all season.

This year our sole representatives were Holly Harris and Jason Chan in the Ice Dance. Unfortunately after a tough season our Pair team of Anastasiia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopolous Moore had to withdraw.

Holly and Jason started the event with the Rhythm Dance. Skating to JoLo in what has become Holly’s iconic green and gold dress, the team presented an energetic and vibrant program which garnered all positive grades of execution from the judging panel. Their score of 71.12 resulted in them finishing in 16th place.

Onto the Free Dance and this is where they have been able to show how far they have come in bringing expression and maturity to their performance. Skating to Clair de Lune, it was a beautiful and emotional performance, bringing out the nuances and beauty of the music. Again the judges marks were positive across the board and they earned a score of 108.49. Their total score of 179.61 resulted in 15th for the Free Dance, however after other teams skated they pulled up two places to finish 14th which is one of the highest place finishes for an Australian team in Ice Dance at the World Championships.

It should also be noted that Holly and Jason were a candidate for an ISU award for their costumes designed by Mathieu Caron. Unfortunately they did not make it to the list of nominees but to be considered is an honour.

So congratulations to Holly and Jason on a successful season, cementing their place as one of the top ice dance teams in the World. We hope to see them back in Australia some time after Worlds and look forward to see what they bring to Ice Dance next season.

As well as our competitors, our Australian judges Debbie Noyes (Pairs) and Mark Storton (Ice Dance) brought their considerable experience to their judging panels. And our skaters were supported by Team Leader Sharon Mellema, who as well as looking after our skaters, also provided our social media with content and photos.

The final event of the figure skating season is the ISU Synchronised Skating World Championships from April 10th-11th. It will be held in Salzburg Austria. Australia will be presented by Team Unity. We wish them all the best.