The 1972 World Figure Skating Championships were held at the Stampede Corral in Calgary, Canada from March 7 to 11.

At the event, sanctioned by the International Skating Union, medals were awarded in men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance.

The ISU Representative was John R. Shoemaker (United States) and the ISU Technical Delegates were Hermann Schiechtl (West Germany) and Donald Gilchrist (Canada).

A day before the start of the competition, Irina Rodnina / Aleksey Ulanov had an accident on a lift; Rodnina was hospitalized with a concussion and an intracranial hematoma but went on to compete and win the gold medal.

Ulanov would team up with the silver medalist, Lyudmila Smirnova.