Qualifying
The competition was open to skaters from ISU member nations who had reached the age of 15 by July 1, 2007. The corresponding competition for younger skaters was the 2008 World Junior Championships.
Based on the results of the 2007 World Championships, each country was allowed between one and three entries per discipline. National associations selected their entries based on their own criteria.
Due to the large number of entries at the World Championships, only the top 24 single skaters and top 20 pairs advanced to the free skate after the short program. In ice dance, the top 30 couples in the compulsory dance advanced to the original dance, and the top 24 couples after the original dance advanced to the free dance.
Read more about this topic: 2008 World Figure Skating Championships