| 1981 World Figure Skating Championships | |
| Comptype: | ISU Championship |
| Startdate: | March 3 |
| Enddate: | 8 |
| Skatingseason: | 1980–81 |
| Location: | Hartford, USA |
| Venue: | Hartford Civic Center |
| Championmen: |  Scott Hamilton |
| Championladies: | Denise Biellmann |
| Championpairs: | Irina Vorobieva / Igor Lisovski |
| Championdance: |  Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean |
| Previouscomp: | 1980 World Championships |
| Nextcomp: | 1982 World Championships |
The 1981 World Figure Skating Championships was the 71st edition of World Figure Skating Championship, held in Hartford, Connecticut, United States from March 3 to 8. At the event, sanctioned by the International Skating Union, medals were awarded in men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
The ISU Representative was Olaf Poulsen and the ISU Technical Delegate was Josef Dědič.
The judging system was modified since 1980. For the singles events, the short program was worth 20% and the free skating 50% while the value of compulsory figures was reduced to 30% of the final result. The rank in each category was multiplied with a factor and these three numbers were added to the total score. The factor for the compulsory figures was 0.6, for the short program 0.4 and for the free skating 1.0. The rank within these three categories were judged according to the 6.0-judging system. In pairs, the short program had the factor 0.4 and the free skating 1.0. The ranks within the two pair categories were also judged according to the 6.0-judging system.
| align=center | Men | Scott Hamilton | David Santee | Igor Bobrin | |
| align=center | Ladies | Denise Biellmann | Elaine Zayak |  Claudia Kristofics-Binder | |
| align=center | Pair skating | Irina Vorobeva / Igor Lisovski | Sabine Baeß / Tassilo Thierbach | Christina Riegel / Andreas Nischwitz | |
| align=center | Ice dancing | Jayne Torvill / Christopher Dean | Irina Moiseeva / Andrei Minenkov | Natalia Bestemianova / Andrei Bukin |
| Rank | Name | Nation | CP | SP | FS | SP+FS | Points | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.8 | |||
| align=center | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5.4 | |||
| align=center | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6.6 | |||
| 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8.4 | ||||
| 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8.6 | ||||
| 6 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 12.8 | ||||
| 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14.0 | ||||
| 8 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 16.0 | ||||
| 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 20.0 | ||||
| 10 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 21.2 | ||||
| 11 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 21.2 | ||||
| 12 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 23.2 | ||||
| 13 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 23.6 | ||||
| 14 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 26.4 | ||||
| 15 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 31.2 | ||||
| 16 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 31.2 | ||||
| 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 34.0 | ||||
| 18 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 36.2 | ||||
| 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 38.6 | ||||
| 20 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 40.6 | ||||
| WD | 16 |
Referee:
Assistant Referee:
Judges:
Substitute judge:
| Rank | Name | Nation | CP | SP | FS | SP+FS | Points | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4.2 | |||
| align=center | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7.4 | |||
| align=center | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 8.0 | |||
| 4 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8.4 | ||||
| 5 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10.0 | ||||
| 6 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 10.8 | ||||
| 7 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 16.0 | ||||
| 8 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 18.4 | ||||
| 9 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 19.0 | ||||
| 10 | 6 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 19.6 | ||||
| 11 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 21.6 | ||||
| 12 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 22.4 | ||||
| 13 | 17 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 24.8 | ||||
| 14 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 29.4 | ||||
| 15 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 31.2 | ||||
| 16 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 32.6 | ||||
| 17 | 10 | 13 | 22 | 19 | 33.2 | ||||
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 15 | 16 | 34.4 | ||||
| 19 | 20 | 22 | 18 | 18 | 38.8 | ||||
| 20 | 12 | 19 | 24 | 23 | 38.8 | ||||
| 21 | 21 | 23 | 19 | 21 | 40.8 | ||||
| 22 | 23 | 17 | 21 | 20 | 41.6 | ||||
| 23 | 25 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 43.4 | ||||
| 24 | 26 | 26 | 23 | 24 | 49.0 | ||||
| 25 | 22 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 50.0 | ||||
| 26 | 27 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 50.8 | ||||
| 27 | 24 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 51.4 | ||||
| 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 56.0 | ||||
| 29 | 30 | 31 | 29 | 29 | 59.4 | ||||
| 30 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 59.4 | ||||
| 31 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 31 | 61.2 |
Referee:
Assistant Referee:
Judges:
Substitute judge:
| Rank | Name | Nation | SP | FS | Points | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.4 | |||
| align=center | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.8 | |||
| align=center | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4.6 | |||
| 4 | 3 | 4 | 5.2 | ||||
| 5 | 7 | 5 | 7.8 | ||||
| 6 | 5 | 6 | 8.0 | ||||
| 7 | 10 | 7 | 11.0 | ||||
| 8 | 8 | 8 | 11.2 | ||||
| 9 | 6 | 9 | 11.4 | ||||
| 10 | 9 | 10 | 13.6 | ||||
| 11 | 11 | 11 | 15.4 |
Referee:
Assistant Referee:
Judges:
Substitute judge:
| Rank | Name | Nation | CD | FD | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| align=center | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| align=center | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 5 | 11 | |||
| 6 | 5 | 6 | 11 | |||
| 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | |||
| 8 | 9 | 8 | 17 | |||
| 9 | 8 | 9 | 17 | |||
| 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 | |||
| 11 | 11 | 11 | 22 | |||
| 12 | 13 | 12 | 25 | |||
| 13 | 12 | 13 | 25 | |||
| 14 | 14 | 14 | 28 | |||
| 15 | 15 | 15 | 30 | |||
| 16 | 17 | 16 | 33 | |||
| 17 | 16 | 17 | 33 | |||
| 18 | 19 | 18 | 37 | |||
| 19 | 18 | 21 | 39 | |||
| 20 | 21 | 19 | 40 | |||
| 21 | 20 | 20 | 40 |