The first medals have been awarded at the Artistic World Skating Championships in France ©Getty Images

Brayan Correno of Colombia and Desiree Cocchi of Italy have been awarded the first gold medals of the 2018 Artistic Skating World Championships in France. 

In all, 1,500 athletes from 35 countries are attending the competition at the Vendéspace Arena in Mouilleron-Le-Capti.

The figure junior men's category saw Correno take gold while Davide Arminchiardi of Italy won silver and Facundo Fina of Argentina took bronze. 

The women's category saw Cocchi win gold, her compatriot Elettra Signorini get silver and Colombia's Sabrina Mur finish with bronze.

The in-line competitions also began. 

In the senior ladies' category, Anastasia Nosova from Russia is leading, with Natalie Montley of the United States in second and France's Metka Kuk in third. 

Chinese Taipei are in first and third positions in the senior men's catergory with Yi-Fan Chen and Hung-Yu Chien. 

Italy's Antonio Panfili of Italy is in second place. 

Action at the Artistic World Skating Championships in France is now underway ©World Skate
Action at the Artistic World Skating Championships in France is now underway ©World Skate

Italian Chiara Censori is currently leading in the women's junior event, with Russia's Anna Semisynova and Veronika Kimont in second and third respectively.

In the men's junior competition, Collin Montley from the US is in the lead, followed by Xan Roles of France and Chinese Taipei's Bo-Yu Chen. 

Tomorrow's action includes the figure senior competition, as well as the continuation of the junior and senior inline events.