Mexican figure skater Donovan Carrillo is heading to Prague, Czechia, to compete in the 2026 ISU Figure Skating World Championships, the final major event of the season.
Carrillo, the first Mexican figure skater to qualify for two Olympic finals, aims for a better result after finishing 22nd in Milano-Cortina. In Czechia, he will face top skaters like American Ilia Malinin, the two-time reigning champion, and Japanese skaters Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato, who took silver and bronze, respectively, at the most recent Winter Olympics.
The 2026 Figure Skating World Championships begin on Tuesday, March 24, and conclude on March 29. Carrillo will compete in the men's singles event. He will debut in the short program on Thursday, March 26, at 4:30 a.m. local time. If he qualifies, he will also skate in the free program on Saturday, March 28, at 5:30 a.m.
For his short program, Carrillo uses a mix of songs, including 'Hip Hip Chin Chin', while his free program features Elvis Presley songs such as 'Trouble', 'Jailhouse Rock', and 'A Little Less Conversation'. The most significant song for him is 'My Way', which his grandmother asked him to use in his routines.
"It's a song I always wanted to skate to (…) Although I've always loved it, I was somehow saving it for a special moment, and I believe that special moment has arrived with the Olympic season," he stated in an interview with Olympics.com.
At last year's World Championships in Boston, the Mexican athlete finished 27th with a total score of 71.55 points and did not advance to the final. This season, he hopes to improve upon that result.
