This event will stay with us for a long time to come.
After 33 years, the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships returned to Prague—and we had the honor of overseeing the entire venue production and technical setup.
Preparations for this event didn’t start just a few weeks in advance, though. They began two years ago—and over the last six months, they’ve picked up a pace that’s hard to describe.
Figure skaters from 39 countries arrived in Prague in March. A total of 36 men, 35 women, 24 pairs, and 31 ice dance couples. And ahead of them lay four days during which they sold out the O2 Arena every night.
But what the audience sees is just the tip of the iceberg. What does it take to put on an event of this scale?
We started a week in advance—by building a training ice rink at the O2 Universum. In just a few days, we transformed the space, which is normally used for concerts, into a functional sports facility that had to meet the standards of a large arena. Our experience from the hockey championship came in handy… but this time we were working under much greater time pressure. Day and night shifts ran nonstop. Seven trucks delivered the training rink, and we used a crane to install the chillers in front of the Universum to keep it cool.
And then came the reality of organizing the event: hundreds of people, dozens of spaces, and an endless number of details. We brought in three truckloads of furniture and Octanorm panels for the offices and auxiliary structures. It turned out to be the largest “table operation” we’ve ever undertaken—we used over 500 work tables at the venue. One entire truckload of trusses was used just for the mixed zones, where media interviews take place.
We then headed to the O2 Arena, where the next time challenge began.
There was little time for construction in the middle of the hockey season, and the equipment had to be installed directly from the ice. We complemented the lighting design and LED content with 112 triangular kinetic lights mounted on 336 winches (motors), which tied in with the championship’s visual identity.
In total, we suspended 37 metric tons of equipment from the roof of the O2 Arena—1,100 meters of truss, 9 Cyberhoists, 220 lights, and LED screens. The cyberhoists added dynamism to the show, and we used them both during the opening show and at the awards ceremony. We programmed the lights and the show in advance using our Wygroom software and then continued the work directly at the arena, where we set up our mobile studio.
We also designed the iconic Kiss & Cry area, where emotions run high in a matter of seconds. The leaders’ chair? A small detail, but a lot of drama. We were on edge right up until the last moment, wondering if the second chair from Spain would arrive in time.
And carpet. Lots of carpet. And also felt pads and endless meters of fabric. We covered every corner of the arena so that all the camera shots would be perfect.
What kind of international championship would it be without an opening ceremony? Michal Caban’s show, featuring about 70 dancers, skaters, and acrobats, transformed the arena into a whole new world.
But that was far from the end of our venue production work. The days were long. Very long. Rehearsals started as early as 6:30 a.m. The evening program ended around 10:30 p.m.
And in the meantime? More events within the event. The Draw Conference. The Council Meeting. And to wrap things up, Sunday’s banquet with the awards ceremony. In other words—it was nonstop.
And when the final round of applause died down… we weren’t done yet. Over Sunday evening and Monday, we had to completely clear out the entire arena. And over the next two days, we also had to remove the entire training area and facilities from O2 Universum.
This wasn’t just a sporting event. It was a production that pushed the boundaries of time and space. But at the same time, it was an experience that can’t be repeated—only carried forward.
We would like to thank all the teams with whom we had the opportunity to create something so unique and beautiful, with such an incredible atmosphere among the audience.
