The World Artistic Skating Championships is an annual roller skating competition of World Skate, formerly known as the International Federation of Roller Sports; FIRS, and that, in Ibagué, Colombia, will reach its 67th edition in the senior category and the 28th in junior.
Currently, in the world artistic skating championships, athletes compete in different modalities: free, solo dance, pairs, couple dance, inline, show and precision.
First held in 1947 in Washington, United States, the world championships are considered the sport’s most prestigious event, and a world title is the highest competitive achievement in roller artistic skating.
In that first world artistic skating event in 1947, and until the one held in 2014 in Reus, Spain, a medal was awarded to a modality called combined, which was the sum of points that a skater made in the competitions figures and free, and through which the most complete skater was sought. On that occasion, the men’s podium was occupied by Donald Mounce from the United States (gold), Karl Peter from Switzerland (silver 9) and Fernand Leemans from Germany (bronze). In the ladies, the Swiss Úrsula Wehrli was gold, the American June Henrich won the silver medal, and her compatriot, Charlotte Ludwig, the bronze.
In the same way, in Washington 1947, in pairs, a modality that has been competed in all the 66th editions of the world championships, the podium was made up of the Germans Fernand Leemans and Elvire Collin in first place, with second place for the British Kenneth Byrne and Jean Phetean, and in third position the Swiss Peter Karl and G. Müller. The current world couple champions are the Italians Luca Lucaroni and Rebecca Tarlazi.
Another of the modalities that has been maintained in the world championships from 1947 to the present is the couple dance, being the first world champions Fred Ludwig and Killip Gallagher from the United States, with second place for Kenneth Byrne and Jean Phetean from Great Britain and in third position the Americans William Weicker and Patricia McIlwain. In the 2022 World Championship, the gold medalists for dance couples were the Portuguese brothers Pedro Walgode and Ana Walgode.
Since 1980, in the World Championship held in Bogotá, Colombia, and until 2021, in the orbital event in Asunción, Paraguay, the mandatory figures competition was awarded, both in women and in men. The first gold medalist in this event was the German Michael Butzke and the last the Colombian Brayan Carreño. In ladies, the first gold in compulsory figures was won by the German Petra Emert, and the last, the Argentinian Giselle Soler.
In free (freeskating), ladies and men, the podium is awarded from 1980 to the present. In the World Championship in Bogotá, the first winners of this test were the Americans Kelly Mahon, in men, and Anna Conklin, in ladies. The current world champions of this modality are: the Spanish Pau García and the Italian Rebecca Tarlazi, winners in the competition held at the World Roller Games in Argentina 2022.
At the 2008 world artistic skating championships, held in Kaohsiung, China, the solo dance competition for men began, with the Italian Daniel Morandin being the first gold medalist. In 2009, in Freiburg, Germany, the solo dance competition for ladies was incorporated, with the Italian Paola Fraschini being the first world champion in this modality. In the most recent World Championship, in 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Colombian Brayan Carreño and the German Emilia Zimermann won the gold medals.
The precision modality (precision team) was included in the 1999 world artistic skating championships, during the event held in the Gold Coast, Australia, with total dominance of the podium for the Germans. The current precision champions are the Argentines with the Roller Dreams.
At the World Championship in Wuppertal, Germany, in 2022, the show competition would be launched with the large show team modality, a modality that the Italian team “Color of The World” won gold on that occasion, with a second place for the South American team “This is Brazil” and the third position for “Blast From the Past” of the United States. The most recent gold medalists are the Argentines “Millennium”.
In 2007, when Costa de Oro, Australia, repeated the World Championship organization, it was the debut of the small show team modality with the world title for “Chemistry” from Spain, the silver medal for the “Chicago team” from Brazil, and the bronze medal for “West Side Story” from Argentina. In the most recent world championship, at the World Skate Games in Argentina, the Small Show Team gold medalists were “CPA Tona” from Spain.
From 2015, at the World Championship in Cali, Colombia, until 2022, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Quartet competition has been dominated by the Italians, with “Celebrity-B Crazy” being champions in 2015 and in 2022 with “Celebrity”.
In the world artistic championships, in the 2002 edition in Wuppertal, Germany, a competition with inline skates was incorporated, with the Australian Jayson Suttcliffe and the Italian Silvia Marangoni being the first world champions of this modality. The current Inline gold medalists are Yi-Fan Chen from Chinese Taipei and Sofia Paronetto from Italy.
