ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2018: Dates, TV and Live-Stream Schedule

The 2018 ISU World Figure Skating Championships start on Wednesday, with a host of top names going for glory in Milan, Italy.

U.S. champion Nathan Chen will be hoping to impress after a disappointing showing at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, and he is a strong medal contender along with Japan's Olympic silver medallist Shoma Uno.

Alina Zagitova is the clear favourite in the women's competition, having taken gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and with silver medallist Yevgenia Medvedeva missing due to a foot injury.

Here is the full schedule, per the competition's official website.

Wednesday, March 21

Ladies Short Programme

Opening Ceremony

Paris Short Programme

Thursday, March 22

Men Short Programme

Pairs Free Skate

Friday, March 23

Ice Dance - Short Dance

Ladies Free Skate

Saturday, March 24

Men Free Skate

Ice Dance - Free Dance

Sunday, March 25

Exhibition Gala

The event will be televised on NBC and NBCSN. A live stream is available through NBCSports.com/live. The full schedule is available here.

Preview

Milan will host five days of enthralling action as some of the best figure skaters in the world compete for medals in Italy.

The men's event will be missing two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, as he has an ankle problem, per the Associated Press (h/t Washington Post). However, there is a strong American field, with Chen, Vincent Zhou and Max Aaron all competing.

Chen has a point to prove after returning from the 2018 Winter Olympics with just a bronze medal in the team event. He suffered disaster in the short programmes but redeemed himself with a superb free skate where he became the first person to land six quads in Olympic history, as shown by ESPN:

He faces tough competition from both Uno and China's Jin Boyang, who finished fourth in Pyeongchang. Zhou will also be out to make an impact, and he also made history at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The 17-year-old became the first athlete to land a quadruple lutz, which left him thrilled, per ABC News:

There are also plenty of star names in the women's competition where 15-year-old Zagitova will be the main draw. However, she will not be able to renew her rivalry with Medvedeva, as she is out with a foot injury, according to the Russian Figure Skating Federation (h/t Nick Zaccardi at NBC Sports).

Bradie Tennell and Mirai Nagasu will carry American hopes both of whom won bronze medals in South Korea in the team event. Nagasu also wrote her name into the history books at the 2018 Winter Olympics, per the U.S. Olympic Team:

The pairs event will feature Olympic champions Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot from Germany while French duo Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron are set to compete in the ice dance. American hopes will be high in the ice dance, too, with Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue and Madison Chock and Evan Bates in the hunt for medals.