[Figure Skating] Swedish Port City Set to Host Worlds

Sweden’s port city of Goteborg is brimming with energy, as it will host its first World Figure Skating Championships in 32 years.

The tournament kicked off yesterday with the compulsory ice dance in the Scandinavium Arena.

The host country was a figure skating powerhouse in the 20th century. Swede Ulrich Salchow won ten world titles from 1901 in the men’s division.

Back then, Sweden was one of the most favored places to hold the world championships.

A record-high 203 skaters from 48 countries will compete this year.

In the opening event, the compulsory dance round, France’s Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder won with 40.73 points. Yu Sun-hye (Korea) and Ramil Sarkulov (Uzbekistan) came in 26th with 21.85 points.

In the short program of the pairs competition, the Chinese duo of Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, who won the silver in the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, placed first with 74.36 points. Second went to the German pair of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy with 72 points.

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