2022 World Figure Skating Championships: BBC TV & online coverage times

22nd Mar 2022 | Source: BBC

Can Japan's Kaori Sakamoto upgrade her Olympic bronze to World Championship gold?

There will be current Olympic medallists vying for success at the World Figure Skating Championships but a number of notable absentees too.

The 2022 Championships from Montpellier in France will be shown live across BBC TV and online from Thursday 24 March until Sunday.

US star Nathan Chen, the reigning world and Olympic champion, and two-time Olympic gold medallist Yuzuru Hanyu are both injured, leaving Japanese skater Yuma Kagiyama, the current Olympic silver medallist, to start as favourite in the men's competition.

The International Skating Union banned competitors from Russia and Belarus from taking part because of the war in Ukraine, which means Olympic gold medallist Anna Shcherbakova and silver medallist Alexandra Trusova are among those not in France.

It leaves the women's singles wide open, with Japan's Kaori Sakamoto, who claimed bronze in Beijing looking to upgrade to gold.

Elsewhere, British ice dance duo Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson will again be out to shine following their impressive 10th-place finish at the Winter Olympics.

Fear said: "We have been training hard since the Games, continuing to strive for more growth and evolution in our programmes and cannot wait to showcase these at the final competition of the season."

Also competing for Great Britain are Olympian Natasha McKay and Graham Newberry, who will skate at his first World Championships since 2017 in the men's singles category.

Zoe Jones and Chris Boyadji will skate in the pairs and Sasha Fear and George Waddell will take a second place alongside elder sister Lilah Fear and Gibson in the ice dance.

Katherine Downes introduces the action, with expert analysis from 1980 Olympic champion Robin Cousins.

The BBC will have live coverage available on the BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and via the BBC Sport website and app.

All programmes will be available to view on BBC iPlayer and there will be extended highlights on BBC Two on Sunday, 24 March.