The United States is sending Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu to the

The United States is sending Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu to the 2010 World Figure Skating Championships set to begin today in Torino, Italy. Nagasu was fourth in Vancouver.

South Korean Kim Yu-Na returns as the current World champion after a pair of third-place finishes. In 2009, Kim topped Canadian Joannie Rochette with Japan’s Miki Ando finishing in third place.

Rochette, the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, has decided to skip the event. Her mother died of a heart attack a few days before winning her bronze medal in Vancouver. Ando, the World gold medalist from 2007, and fellow Japanese Mao Asada, the reigning Olympic silver medalist, are on the competition list.

The ladies competition starts Friday with the short program and ends the following day with the free skate.