Olympic bronze medalists Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin won the first World gold for Germany since 2018 as the Pair Skating event at the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026 concluded in Prague, Czechia, Thursday with an exciting Free Skating. More than 13,000 spectators at the O2 Arena celebrated the new World Champions and medalists with enthusiasm. 

Hase & Volodin claim maiden World title 

Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin of Germany had won World bronze and silver and now stepped on to the top of the podium in their third ISU World Championships as a team. Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava claimed the silver, their first ISU World medal and the first ISU World Championship medal for their country. Canadians Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud earned the bronze, their first World Championship medal as well.

Overnight leaders Hase & Volodin (pictured above) had to skate last. They opened their emotional performance to “Memoryhouse” with a big triple twist and followed up with triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence. The Olympic bronze medalists impressed with their triple throws and lifts. The only glitch came when Volodin doubled the Salchow and Hase stepped out of the landing. The crowd at the O2 Arena encouraged the Germans with their applause from beginning to end, and carried them through.

Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin (GER) now have a medal of each color from the past three editions of the ISU Figure Skating World Championships © ISU

“At the end, I look right away at Nikita and asked him if it was enough and he said, ‘Yes, I think so”, Hase said. “The atmosphere was just incredible. The crowd got so loud after the combination jump, we didn’t hear the music anymore. There was so much energy that giving up was not an option. We just fought until the end and it was marvelous,” she added.

“It’s a dream, now it’s true, it’s happening,” Volodin said. “My mother sent me a message yesterday about something I said in first grade: ‘I want to be a World Champion.’ Yes, you didn’t think it was possible, and now it’s happened.”

The 2025 ISU European Champions scored 148.55 points and totaled 228.33 points – their personal best – to win the Free Skating and overall, eight years since Aljona Savchenko & Bruno Massot were World Champions for Germany.

The World Champions Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin (GER) show off their gold medals in Prague, Czechia © ISU

Performing to “Keeping Me Alive”, Metelkina & Berulava started strongly with a triple twist and completed a side by side triple toe, throw triple flip and difficult lifts. However, Metelkina fell on the throw triple loop and the death spiral was rated a level one. As a result, the Olympic silver medalists were fourth in the Free Skating with 138.96 points but remained in second place overall with 218.41 points. 

“We had not the best skate, though not the worst,” Metelkina said. “We made a serious mistake – a fall on the throw and some smaller ones. But with every mistake we are growing stronger and are learning not to make them in the future. All and all it’s an OK skate that we will work on and improve. I am glad it’s the end of the season. We gave it our all and we’ll prepare for the next,” she continued. 

“We are really proud to win this first World medal for Georgia in history,” Berulava said. “It’s all thanks to our federation and the president of our skating federation who believed in us, supports us and does everything she can for us.”

Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava grabbed silver, just as they did at last month's Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games © ISU

Pereira & Michaud put out a personal best performance to the “Gladiator” soundtrack that was highlighted by a triple twist, triple toe-double Axel sequence and throw triple Lutz. The Canadian Champions picked up 140.57 points to come second in the Free Skating and third overall on 216.09 points. 

“I think it is a little hard to describe right now the rollercoaster of emotions,” Pereira said. “While we were on the ice and throughout the program, I think we were just proud of how we handled all of it. We skated our hearts out there and I think that was shown. 

“We wanted to achieve determination and grit, leaving it all out there. We know that when we do solid programs and good quality elements that we can be on the podium and get good scores. We don’t focus on the act of getting on the podium, but on what we can control and that is skating the best that we can. We did that today and now we get to be where we want to stand.”

Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud of Canada, who claimed bronze - their first ISU World Championship medal © ISU

Up-and-coming Yuna Nagaoka & Sumitada Moriguchi (JPN) delivered an impressive performance to “The Tree of Life Suite” and wowed the crowd particularly with their lifts at high speed. The ISU Four Continents bronze medalists were third in the Free Skating and moved up to fourth place with 209.13 points. The 2026 ISU European bronze medalists Maria Pavlova & Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) finished fifth with a solid performance (205.08 points), while the reigning ISU Four Continents Champions Alisa Efimova & Misha Mitrofanov (USA) pulled up one spot to sixth (202.51 points). 

Find more comments from the skaters in the Quick Quotes and Press Conference section on the ISU Website. 

What and when 

The schedule of the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026 is as follows:

Wednesday, March 25: Women’s & Pairs Short Programs
Thursday, March 26: Men’s Short Program & Pairs Free Skating
Friday, March, 27: Rhythm Dance & Women’s Free Skating 
Saturday, March 28: Men’s Free Skating & Free Dance
Sunday, March 29:  Exhibition Gala & ISU Figure Skating Awards

For more information, full entry lists and results, visit the ISU event page of the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026 and the official event website. Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldFigure and #FigureSkating. 

Where to watch the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026:

Find all the relevant information about watching the ISU Figure Skating World in the Where to Watch news.

Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.