On March 26, Azerbaijani figure skater Vladimir Litvintsev will perform his short program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, marking his first appearance since a disappointing outing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The performance is expected to play a determining role in shaping his future with the national team. The Azerbaijan Winter Sports Federation has previously indicated that its future partnership with the athlete will depend on his results, as stated by Secretary General Gunel Badalova.
Litvintsev is scheduled to take the ice 24th in a field of 36 competitors. To qualify for the free skate, he must finish in the top 24 after the short program. His personal best in the segment remains 85.83 points, set at the 2022 World Championships. In the current season (2024/2025), his top score came at the ISU CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge 2025, where he earned 78.52 points.
This event marks Litvintsev’s seventh appearance at the World Championships. He has failed to reach the final segment twice, in 2021 and 2024.
His previous results are as follows:
- 2025 – 15th place
- 2024 – 25th place
- 2023 – 11th place
- 2022 – 16th place
- 2021 – 27th place
- 2020 – event canceled due to COVID-19
- 2019 – 17th place
Throughout his career, Litvintsev has maintained a consistent technical layout in the short program, featuring a quadruple toe loop, a triple axel, and a triple flip–triple toe loop combination. The same elements are expected in today’s performance.
He skated this layout at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, where he received 31.13 points for technical elements, finishing with a total of 63.63 points and placing 29th. His highest technical scores at the World Championships came in 2019 (47.86), 2022 (46.82), and 2023 (46.03).
His primary objective remains unchanged from the Olympics: deliver a clean skate and secure qualification for the free program, scheduled for Saturday, March 28.
The final is expected to feature intense competition. Although 2026 Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan will not compete, several top contenders remain in the field. Among them is two-time world champion Ilia Malinin, who entered the 2026 Olympics as a favorite but ultimately finished eighth.
Earlier, Azerbaijan’s Nargiz Suleymanova placed 27th out of 33 competitors and did not advance to the final. Meanwhile, the country’s ice dance duo, Samantha Ritter and Daniel Brikalov, are set to compete on Friday, March 27.
