Madonna, Robbie Williams, The Backstreet Boys: The Rhythm Dance at the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026 in Prague, Czechia on Friday had it all. Olympic Champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) took the lead as the Ice Dancers brought the vibes of the 90s back onto the ice to the delight of the more than 10,000 spectators at the O2 Arena.

Fournier Beaudry & Cizeron poised for gold on World Championship debut

Olympic Champions Fournier Beaudry & Cizeron danced to a strong lead with six points to spare ahead of Canada’s Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier. Great Britain’s Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson are currently ranked third.

Fournier Beaudry & Cizeron brought “Vogue” to the ice one last time, putting out a perfect final performance of their Rhythm Dance. The Olympic Champions showed off intricate footwork and a fast rotational lift to pick up a level four for three out of the four level elements. The ISU European Champions posted a new personal best of 92.74 points.

Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) set a personal best on their World Championships debut as a team © ISU

“It was quite magic,” Cizeron said. “It is a crazy atmosphere at the rink. It gives me butterflies - first of excitement, and then of gratitude for being here.

“We’ve delivered a beautiful performance, more relaxed than at the Olympic Games.

“The points followed but, honestly, it was more about having this moment at the arena with the fans and all of the audience. It was very special,” he added.

“I really think that being relaxed adds a lot to the performance,” Fournier Beaudry noted.

“It adds more flow and more connection. That is one thing but we really wanted to benefit from the fact that it is the last time to perform this program. As Guillaume said, we felt that the atmosphere of the arena was very magical and I think that helped us to perform even better.”

Gilles & Poirier put on model performance

Gilles & Poirier recalled the supermodel era with their dance to “Supermodels” and “Too Sexy”, and turned in another great performance that was highlighted by their difficult twizzles, steps and rotational lift. The 2026 Olympic bronze medalists achieved a season’s best with 86.45 points.

Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier (CAN) enjoyed sharing their 'Supermodels' Rhythm Dance for the last time this season © ISU

“It was a really fun performance,” Poirier commented.

“There was a little bit less pressure after the Olympics and so we were really able to just enjoy being present. It felt awesome and we had a great time.”

The Canadian Champions are going back to their “Wuthering Heights” routine for the Free Dance.

“I think we were just so satisfied with our performance at the Olympics that we did not want to try to recreate that, there was a lot of pressure,” Poirier explained.

“It was refreshing after the Games to give ourselves a task, a challenge. Those are the circumstances we thrive under. It made the training rather easier. We thought what a great opportunity to share another piece of our work with our fans this season.”

Fear & Gibson bid 'Goodbye' to Spice Girls

Fear & Gibson spiced up the ice with their Spice Girls Medley, executing level-three twizzles and footwork to score 85.09 points.

Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson (GBR) can hang up their Spice Girls costumes with price after coming third in Prague's O2 Arena © ISU

“It’s sad [to say goodbye to the Spice Girls program], but it feels like that every season but then we have so much excitement building new programs,” Gibson shared.

“I think we were just honestly super proud of the skate and just happy with what we could put out there. The audience was also incredible, so it felt a lot of fun to skate it.

“We’ve worked super hard just trying to make sure the quality of everything we did is the highest we can do it and I feel like we nearly got that program today.” 

Reigning ISU Four Continents Champions Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik (USA) finished fourth with their performance to “Poison” but are less than a point away from the podium on 84.21.

The 2025 ISU European silver medalists Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud (FRA) placed fifth on 83.07 points while Olivia Smart & Tim Dieck (ESP) round up the top six. 

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

A total of 173 Skaters representing 39 countries have been entered for the Championships: 39 Men, 33 Women, 21 Pairs and 31 Ice Dance couples. Prague hosts the ISU World Championships for the third  time after 1993 and 1962.

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.

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