The 2011 World Championships were to be held in Japan. The corresponding decision was made in June 2008 at the ISU congress in Monaco. Initially, the championship was to take place in Nagano. However, the Japanese themselves then found it necessary to hold the tournament in Tokyo.
There have been no signs of negative developments. However, on March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake occurred in Japan, in turn triggering a tsunami. The situation worsened and it became clear that many people should not visit Japan and that it would not be possible to hold the World Championships at the end of March. As a result, the ISU faced a difficult task.
The International Skating Union is considering different options to resolve the situation. It was decided to choose a new venue and invite countries to submit their applications. It was possible to postpone the championship to April or early May. However, the selection criteria were the ability to accommodate the required number of athletes, organize broadcasting, provide an arena for competitions and a training rink. Also for the ISU, the absence of problems obtaining visas was an important factor.
Six countries have submitted their candidacy to host the world championship. However, the Russian version turned out to be the most attractive. It was proposed to hold the World Championship in Moscow on the ice of the Megasport Arena. The candidacy was supported by Vladimir Putin, then Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. “We do not insist on anything, but if you need to help the International Skating Federation, we will do it with pleasure. It is an inexpensive event, we could easily bear the costs ourselves,” said Poutine. In addition, ROC head Alexander Zhukov said that Russia has a special procedure for issuing visas to participants in major sporting events, which is accelerated compared to the usual, rather lengthy procedure, and that neither participants nor foreign spectators of the event. The championship will have problems in this matter.
The request was granted. Moscow has started preparing for the World Cup, which is scheduled to take place from April 25 to May 1. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has taken on many duties. More than two hundred million rubles were allocated from the city budget to host the tournament. It was decided to accommodate the skaters, as well as some coaches and judges, at the Aerostar Hotel next to the arena. The journalists were placed in hotels in Moscow, creating conditions similar to those that existed in 2007 during the World Hockey Championship. Students wishing to participate in volunteer activities and translators from Moscow universities were invited. On April 17, after the Tennis Federation Cup, which took place at the Megasport arena, they immediately began to prepare the ice. On April 10, the sale of tickets began, the cost of which ranged from 200 to 3,000 rubles.
On April 27, the opening ceremony took place, which was decided to be shortened to 30 minutes due to the accelerated preparation for the championship. One of the themes of the ceremony was what happened in Japan. As a result, the world championship was held at the highest level. Many fans were happy with the event. Banners with the Japanese flag and words of gratitude to Russia were also visible in the stands.
If we talk about the results, we managed to win a medal in men’s single skating. Artur Gachinsky won bronze. Canadian Patrick Chan became world champion, and representative Takahiko Kozuha took second place. In women’s single skating, Alena Leonova approached the podium, but she became only fourth. Ksenia Makarova was only seventh. Japan’s Miki Ando became world champion and South Korea’s Kim Young Ah won silver.
German representatives Alena Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won in pair skating. Future Olympic champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov came second. The first three were completed by the Chinese Pan Qing and Jian Tong. The other two Russian couples (Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov, Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov) took fourth and fifth places respectively.
In ice dancing, it was not possible to get closer to the podium. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov took only sixth place, while Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov took seventh place. Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White won, Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took second place, and another American representative, Maya Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, completed the top three.
Thus, the 2011 World Cup became an indicator of Russia’s willingness to help the international community organize competitions. All competition expenses were financed from the Moscow budget. Apparently, the ISU forgets this step when deciding to suspend Russian athletes.
Yaroslav Piatykh, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
