figure skating

The first competition in figure skating took place in Great Britain in 1814, from where figure skating spread throughout Europe and the USA. The first international figure skating competitions took place in Vienna in 1882.

Figure skating is a run with ice skates on ice surfaces designed according to sporting and aesthetic-musical aspects. This is held in the disciplines of single and pair skating as well as ice dancing. Figure skating includes (apart from ice dancing) a short program with prescribed elements and a freestyle. The ice dance includes two compulsory dances that have been drawn, an original dance and a freestyle dance. Several judges evaluate using grades from 0 to 6 points divided into tenths. The artful execution of jumps, pirouettes and steps are decisive for the evaluation.

The rules of competition for figure skating were derived from the textbook by Jackson Haines' students (Dr. Körper, Wirth and Diamantidi, "Tracks on the Ice"), published in 1881. These competition regulations, called regulations, were later adopted by the International Skating Union (ISU). These rules essentially apply to this day. The introduction of the short program and the change in the ratio in the evaluation of the compulsory and free program brought clearer changes. A new rating system was developed by the ISU, which has been valid since the 2004/2005 season and which is based on a completely new calculation of the competition results.

In 1908 the first Olympic figure skating competition was held in London, and Ulrich Salchow was the first Olympic champion. In 1920 the second Olympic figure skating competition was held in Antwerp, where a total of 6 countries compete. At the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924, 29 participants from 11 countries took part. At the Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck in 1976, there were already 105 starters from 18 countries.