For the first time in nearly a decade, the world figure skating championships are back on U.S. soil.
The world’s best figure skaters will converge at TD Garden in Boston this week for the latest edition of the annual world championships, which will serve as both a coda to the 2024-2025 season and a key benchmark for the year to come. The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina are now less than 11 months away.
The U.S. will be trying to improve on its performance at last year’s world championships in Montreal, where it won medals in three of the sport’s four disciplines: Men’s singles, women’s singles and ice dance.
Ilia Malinin, the Olympic gold-medal favorite for 2026, and the ice dance team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates enter the week as the defending world champions, while Isabeau Levito is the reigning world silver medalist. (In pairs competition, which is the fourth discipline, the three American teams placed 11th, 12th and 13th overall.)
Here’s what you need to know about the 2025 world figure skating championships.
When are the 2025 world figure skating championships?
Competition will stretch across parts of four days, starting Wednesday and concluding Saturday. The winning skaters will also perform in an exhibition Sunday.
How to watch the 2025 world figure skating championships
The 2025 world figure skating championships will be streamed in their entirety on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock. And portions of nearly all of the sessions will also be televised on USA Network and NBC.
NBC will also air a recap show on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
World figure skating championships schedule, TV listings
Here is the complete schedule for the 2025 world figure skating championships, with channel and television coverage start times in parentheses. The entirety of all sessions will be available on Peacock.
Wednesday, 12:05 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. ET: Women’s short program (USA Network, 3 p.m.)
Wednesday, 6:45 p.m. to 10:21 p.m. ET: Pairs short program
Thursday, 11:05 a.m. to 4:44 p.m. ET: Men’s short program (USA Network, 3 p.m.)
Thursday, 6:15 p.m. to 9:55 p.m. ET: Pairs free skate (USA Network, 8 p.m.)
Friday, 11:15 a.m. to 4:54 p.m. ET: Rhythm dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.)
Friday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Women’s free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.)
Saturday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. ET: Free dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.)
Saturday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Men’s free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.)
When does Ilia Malinin compete at the 2025 world figure skating championships?
Ilia Malinin, the 20-year-old defending world champion, will first take the ice at TD Garden on Thursday afternoon. The session schedule, including the exact time for Malinin’s short program, has not yet been announced.
Malinin will then return to the ice again Saturday night, likely around 9:30 p.m. ET, for his long program − which could feature as many as seven quadruple jumps. He is the only skater to attempt that many quads in a program, and the only skater in history to land a quad axel. Malinin told reporters last week that he might pare down his program on the day of competition, depending on how he is feeling.
Isabeau Levito, Amber Glenn among other names to watch
With the continued absence of Russian skaters from international competition following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, the metaphorical door has been left ajar for the rest of the world to compete in women’s singles − a discipline that the Russians have historically dominated.
Isabeau Levito, 18, is the reigning world silver medalist and will be looking to return to the podium after missing U.S. nationals with an injury. But Amber Glenn, 25, also has a strong shot at a medal after winning the 2024-25 Grand Prix final − one of the premier events in the sport, outside of worlds and the Winter Olympics. She is in the midst of the best season of her career.
Alysa Liu, a 2022 member of the U.S. Olympic team, is another key name to watch on the women’s side. And in ice dance, of course, all eyes will be on Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates. They have won five world medals and helped the U.S. to the team gold in Beijing.