Figure skating at the Olympic Games
Figure skating was first contested in the Olympic Games at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Since 1924, the sport has been a part of the Winter Olympic Games.
Men's singles, women's singles, and pair skating have been held most often. Ice dance joined as a medal sport in 1976 and a team event debuted at the 2014 Olympics. Special figures were contested at only one Olympics, in 1908. Synchronized skating has never appeared at the Olympics but aims to be included.
History.
Figure skating was first contested as an Olympic sport at the 1908 Summer Olympics, in London, United Kingdom. As this traditional winter sport could be conducted indoors, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved its inclusion in the Summer Olympics program. It was featured a second time at the Antwerp Games, after which it was permanently transferred to the program of the Winter Olympic Games, first held in 1924 in Chamonix, France.
In London, figure skating was presented in four events: men's singles, women's singles, men's special figures, and mixed pairs. The special figures contest was won by Russian Nikolai Panin, who gave his country its first ever Olympic gold medal. He remains the event's sole winner, as it was subsequently dropped from the program.
Ice dance joined as a medal sport in 1976, after appearing as a demonstration event at Grenoble 1968.
A team event debuted at the 2014 Olympics. It consists of two segments: qualification and finals. During qualification each team has one men's single skater, one women's single skater, one pair, and one ice dance couple skate their short program/dance. Before the finals, each team is allowed to replace up to two skaters/couples. The final consists of each skater/couple skating their free program/dance. Results are determined by placement points.
Qualifying.
The number of entries for the figure skating events at the Olympic Games is limited by a quota set by the International Olympic Committee. There are 30 participants in each singles events (women and men), 20 pairs, and 24 ice dance duos.
In the past, skaters must represent a member nation of the International Skating Union and reach the age of fifteen before July 1 of the previous year. After the previous 2022 Olympic Games, this rule has changed and the new age requirement by the next Olympics will be 17-years-old. They are also required to be citizens of the country they are representing. Competitors have until just before the Olympics to receive citizenship. Since nationality rules are less strict for the ISU Championships, sometimes skaters who have competed at World or European championships are not eligible for the Olympics.
80% of the Olympic spots (24 men/women, 19 dance couples, 16 pairs) are allotted to countries according to the results of the previous year's World Figure Skating Championships. A country may have a maximum of three entries per discipline. Countries earn two or three entries by earning points through their skaters' placements. The points are equal to the sum of the placements of the country's skaters (top two if they have three). If a country only has one skater/couple, that skater/couple must place in the top ten to earn two entries and in the top two to earn three entries. If a country has two skaters/teams, the combined placement of those teams must be 13 or less to qualify 3 entries, and 28 or less to qualify two entries. The remaining places are awarded to one skater/couple each from countries that failed to get multiple places, in order of their skaters' placement in the world championships.
Following the World Championships, countries that have not qualified an entry in a particular discipline receive another opportunity in an international competition held in the autumn (usually the Nebelhorn Trophy) prior to the Olympic Games. Six spots are available in men's singles, six in women's singles, four in pairs, and five in ice dance. At some Olympics, the host country is automatically entitled to one entry in each discipline, e.g. in 1994, 2010, and 2018 if minimum scores are achieved. If a country receives a spot by being the host, one fewer spot is available in the autumn qualifying competition.
The selection of representatives is at the national governing body's discretion. Some countries rely on the results of their national championships while others have more varied criteria. This may include reaching a certain placement at the European Figure Skating Championships and the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.
Scoring and judging system.
A very specific scoring system is used for every discipline in the Olympics. This is referred to as the International Judging System (IJS). Competitors are scored on the technical score and the program components. Each technical element that is attempted in a program has a specific base value of points, which varies based on the element. Additionally, elements such as spins and step sequences can achieve different levels, which can add or subtract points from that element's final score. At the end of the program, all of the competitors' technical element points are added up to form their technical scores. The program components are determined by the overall presentation of a performance and are separated into five categories. The categories consist of skating skills, transitions, performance, composition, and interpretation of the music. Again, these categories are added together at the end of the program to determine the program components score. The technical elements score and the program components score are added together to create a final segment score.
The judging system consists of two parts, the technical panel and the judges. The technical panel involves five people that play different roles in judging the technical elements of a skaters program. First, there is the technical specialist, who uses the rules developed by the International Skating Union to identify each element and its level of difficulty. The two judges who support the main technical specialist are referred to as the technical controllers and assistant technical specialist. They make sure the primary specialist has correctly identified the elements and make any final decisions on the technical elements presented in the program. The final two roles presented by the technical panel are the data operator and video replay operator. Separate from the technical panel is the judging panel, which is made up of nine judges. Their job is to judge the quality of each element done by the skater regarding the technical elements, as well as evaluate the program components shown in the program. They do this by a great of execution score, GOE, that ranges from –5 to +5 and determines how many points can be added or subtracted from the base value of an element.
Age rules.
Within figure skating, there is a set minimum age limit for all elite competitors through the sport. This age was formerly 15 years old, until after the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. During this event, 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was the favorite to win the women's single event, until she was found to have a positive drug test for a banned substance previous to the competition. The International Olympic Committee had to conduct an investigation into Valieva during the Olympics, which brought a great amount of chaos and controversy as to whether she should have been allowed to compete or not. More importantly, it brought attention to the conditions young athletes are faced with physically, mentally, and emotionally as they are preparing for this event, this not being the first time a situation such as this has occurred in post-Soviet states. After the 2022 Games, the International Skating Union voted to increase the minimum age limit for elite competitors throughout the sport to 17, by a vote of 100 to 16. This limit will be implemented over the course of the next three years, before the 2026 Games in Milan. This decision was based on preserving the physical, mental, and emotional health and wellbeing of figure skaters, and can be summarize by Eric Radford, three-time Canadian Olympic medalist, who stated, "Is a medal worth risking the health of a child or young athlete?"
Synchronized skating in the Olympics.
The discipline of synchronized skating adds a team element to figure skating, having eight to twenty skaters on the ice at once. They skate together in unison performing difficult step sequences and formations together. This discipline has not yet been included in the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) determines whether to add a sport or a discipline to the Olympics based on how many athletes and officials would be included, how popular the sport is, and how much money it would bring to them. The ISU has been making efforts the past several years to "investigate, strategize and gather the information required for Synchronized Skating to be accepted as an Olympic discipline."
Medal table.
"Accurate as of 2022 Winter Olympics."
Participating nations.
The number in each box represents the number of figure skaters the nation sent.
References.
General
Specific
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
External links.
 Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

International Skating Union
International governing body for competitive ice skating
The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Netherlands, in July 1892, making it one of the oldest international sport federations. The ISU was formed to establish standardized international rules and regulations for the skating disciplines it governs, and to organize international competitions in these disciplines. It is now based in Switzerland.
History.
The International Skating Union (ISU) was founded in 1892 in the Dutch seaside town of Scheveningen. The meeting was attended by 15 men, as the national association representatives from the Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany/Austria, and two clubs from Stockholm (Sweden) and Budapest (Hungary). The ISU was the first international winter sports federation to govern speed skating and figure skating, as it laid down the rules for speed skating, shortly followed by figure skating. In 1895, the organization streamlined its mission to deal only with amateur competitors, not professionals, and hosted its first amateur skating championship in February 1896 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The United States and Canada formed a competing organization, the International Skating Union of America (ISUA), in 1907. Over the next two years, 12 European nations had joined the ISU, while the ISUA had only its original two members. The ISUA folded in 1927.
European and North American figure skaters rarely competed against each other because of differences in their styles of skating. The ISU had "systematized and arranged" the sport of figure skating, with competitions including "a selection of ten or twelve numbers from the ISU programme, ... five minutes' free skating to music, ... [and] special figures" on one foot. According to figure skating historian James R. Hines, the ISU was formed due to the necessity of establishing a schedule of compulsory figures and to adopt the international style of figure skating used outside of North America and Great Britain. In 1911, Canada joined the ISU, leaving the United States as the only major competitor to not be a member. This changed in 1923, when the United States Figure Skating Association joined the ISU and in 1926, the Japanese sport governing body followed to acquire ISU membership.
The first ISU competitions to emerge were the World and European Speed Skating and Figure Skating Championships. Both disciplines were included in the official program of the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix in 1924. The discipline of ice dancing was introduced at the Innsbruck Games in 1976. After 1945, the ISU slowly continued to grow with accession of members from other countries in Europe, Oceania, and (Southern) Africa.
The ISU celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1967, when they published "75 Years of European and World Championships". The organization was unable to celebrate its 25th and 50th anniversaries in 1917 and 1942 due to the two world wars. In 1991, the ISU celebrated its 100th anniversary.
In 1967, the ISU adopted short track speed skating. The first official ISU World Championships in speed skating took place in 1981. Short track speed skating became part of the official Olympic program in 1992. The earliest speed skating competitions hosted by the ISU, between 1976 and 1980, were held under different names but have retrospectively received World Championship status. The discipline was known as "indoor speed skating" at first, until being renamed "short track speed skating" when indoor rinks for the longer speed skating events were introduced.
By 1988, 38 nations had joined the ISU. Over the next few years, the organization abandoned one of its long-held practices, eliminating the use of mandatory figures in the singles' figure skating competitions and reducing their use in ice dancing. During the 1970s and 1980s, several Asian countries joined the ISU, followed in the early 1990s by many new countries emerging from the breakup of the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. In 1994, synchronized skating was formally recognized as a separate discipline, and the first ISU World Championships were held in 2000 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
After the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, the ISU implemented changes to many of its events. The ISU approved the use of video replay, when available, to review referee decisions. The rules for judging figure skating were also overhauled as a direct result of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal. According to Ottavio Cinquanta, former president of the ISU, "'Something was wrong there,' ... 'Not just the individual but also the system. It existed for 70 years. Now we are trying to replace one system with another.'" A new judging system for figure skating took effect in 2005, replacing the 6.0 system of "perfect" scores and instead giving points for various technical elements.
Since the 2000s, the ISU has experienced a new wave of expansion, with several countries in Asia and Latin America joining the organization. In 2019, skating federations from Chile, Peru, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam acquired membership of the ISU.
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ISU issued Communication No. 2469, banning all Russian and Belarusian athletes from events until further notice. On 28 March 2023 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a statement recommending that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to compete under a neutral flag. On 11 June 2023 the ISU responded to the IOC 28 March statement, saying that the ISU Council "decided to explore the feasibility issues with regard to potential pathways to implement the IOC recommendations within ISU Sports. ...The Council will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the ISU activity as well as the decisions and their implementation within the Olympic Movement. In the meantime, ISU Communication 2469 remains in force". On 28 July the IOC responded to questions about its position.
ISU Members.
Regions.
List of 80 Countries (101 Association, Some nations have 2 or 3 organ member) in 5 Zones (Updated at 21 July 2024):
<templatestyles src="Col-begin/styles.css"/>
ISU Championships.
In addition to sanctioning other international competitions, the ISU designates the following competitions each year as "ISU Championships":
Olympic.
The events such as the Olympic Winter Games and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating are not ISU Championships. However, they do count towards Personal Best scores.
First world championships.
Dates and locations of first world championships in various disciplines held under the auspices of the ISU:
Medals (Figure Skating).
Source:
Overall Medals (Stage 1 + Stage 2).
Medals awarded to the skaters who achieved the highest overall placements in each discipline.
Small Medals.
The short program, along with the free skating program, is a segment of single skating, pair skating, and synchronized skating in international competitions and events for both junior and senior-level skaters. It has been previously called the "original" or "technical" program. The short program was added to single skating in 1973, which created a three-part competition until compulsory figures were eliminated in 1990. The short program for pair skating was introduced at the 1963 European Championships, the 1964 World Championships, and the Olympics in 1968; previously, pair skaters only had to perform the free skating program in competitions. Synchronized skating has always had two competition segments, the short program and free skating.
Small Medals awarded only at ISU Championships since probably 2009:
Stage 1 = Small medals awarded to the skaters who achieved the highest short program or rhythm dance placements in each discipline.
Stage 2 = Small medals awarded to the skaters who achieved the highest free skating or free dance placements in each discipline.
Small Medals awarded only at ISU Championships:
Small Medals not awarded in:
Cooperation with other sports.
The ISU has an agreement with the Federation of International Bandy to use the same arenas. The cooperation between the two federations is increasing, since both have an interest in more indoor venues with large ice surfaces being built.
Organization.
The ISU is an international sport federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the body globally administering figure skating and speed skating sports with the following disciplines: Speed skating, Single & Pair skating, Ice dance, Short track speed skating, and Synchronized skating.
Whereas the individual national associations administer these sports at the national level, all international matters are under the sole jurisdiction and control of the ISU. The ISU has been headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, since 1947. Also in 1947, English was adopted as the ISU's official language.
There was an attempt to set up an alternative association to replace the ISU for governing and promoting figure skating throughout the world. In March 2003, a group of several former figure skating champions (who at the time were still practicing as coaches, judges, referees) announced the creation of a new international governing body for figure skating, the World Skating Federation ("WSF"). This attempt ultimately failed.
ISU is organized as an association pursuant to Swiss laws (art. 60 of Swiss Civil Code). It has its own legal identity and falls under the jurisdiction of Switzerland. Articles of Association define ISU's purpose as
"The objectives of the ISU are regulating, governing and promoting the sports of Figure and Speed Skating and their organized development on the basis of friendship and mutual understanding between sportsmen.The ISU shall work for broadening interest in Figure and Speed Skating sports by increasing their popularity, improving their quality and increasing the number of participants throughout the world. The ISU shall ensure that the interests of all ISU Members are observed and respected."
The ISU Statutes consist of the ISU Constitution including its Procedural Provisions, and ISU General Regulations setting out framework principles. More detailed provisions are contained in Special Regulations and Technical Rules for Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance, Synchronized Skating Speed Skating, and Short Track Speed Skating.
The ISU Code of Ethics, the ISU Anti-Doping Rules, and ISU Anti-Doping Procedures contain further guidelines.
Additional provisions and updates can also be found in ad-hoc published ISU Communications.
Members.
The members of the ISU are the individual national associations whose task is to administer figure and speed skating on ice at the national level. Members are typically composed of skating clubs and athletes are individual members of those clubs. As of 20 February 2020, the International Skating Union counts 98 members.
ISU Congress.
The highest-ranking body of the ISU is the ISU Congress which consists of the ISU Members. The Congress meets once every two years for an ordinary meeting. Ordinary resolutions are passed by a simple majority of votes of the ISU Members represented and voting at a Congress. Proposals require a two-thirds majority of ISU Members in favor in order to be accepted.
Since the ISU's inception in 1892, 58 ordinary meetings in total have been organized.
ISU Council.
The ISU Council constitutes the highest ISU body between two Congresses.
It is the executive body of the ISU and is responsible for determining the policies of the ISU and deciding upon the general coordination of the ISU structure and strategy. The Council consists of the President, a vice president, and five members for the Figure Skating Branch and a vice president, and five members for the Speed Skating Branch.
In 1967, Jacques Favart, who was the ISU's vice president for figure skating, replaced Ernst Labin as ISU president due to Labin's death six weeks after taking office; Favart served for the next 13 years. Also in 1967, Sonia Bianchetti of Italy became the first woman council member.
The council is assisted by the Director General and the ISU Secretariat. The Director General is responsible for the daily management of all business and financially related activities of the ISU and the operation of the Secretariat.
As of the summer of 2008, the ISU consisted of 63 member nations, with a governing council of 11. To add any proposal to the agenda of meetings, it must have support from four-fifths of the members. Proposals on the agenda are approved with a two-thirds majority vote.
ISU Commissions and Committees.
Following the ISU Congress 2018, the organizational chart of the ISU includes alongside the ISU Congress and ISU Council, assisted by the ISU Secretariat, the following bodies:
The ISU Disciplinary Commission (DC) constitutes a judicial body of the ISU. It is an independent body elected by the ISU Congress.
The ISU Athletes Commission was introduced on the 56th ISU Ordinary Congress 2016 in Dubrovnik and represents Skaters’ positions within the ISU by providing advice to the ISU Council, Technical Committees, Sports Directors, Director General and other internal bodies.
The ISU Medical Commission coordinates compliance with anti-doping regulations.
The ISU Development Commission implements the ISU Development Program in accordance with the ISU policy and the approved budget.
The main functions of the ISU Technical Committees include the preparation, monitoring and maintenance of the Technical Rules. The following Technical Committees are established: Single and Pair Skating, Ice Dance, Synchronized Skating, Speed Skating and Short Track Speed Skating.
Eligibility rules.
ISU's role as an international sports federation involves setting the rules to ensure proper governance of sport, notably in terms of the health and safety of the athletes and the integrity of competitions.
Similar to many international sports federations, ISU adopted eligibility rules.
Under the ISU eligibility rules, skaters participating in competitions that are not approved by the ISU face severe penalties up to a lifetime ban from all major international skating events.
Historically, only amateurs were allowed to qualify for the Olympic Games and in 1962, the IOC issued the Eligibility rules which specified that persons receiving remuneration and other material advantages for participation in sport were not eligible to compete in
the Olympic Games. However, the concept of amateur sport developed over time, moving by the end of the 1980s towards professionalisation. Respecting the Olympic principles, the ISU rules made a difference in treatment of amateur and professional skaters wishing to qualify for the Olympic Games. In 1986, the limitations imposed on professional skaters were removed and the categories of "eligible" and "ineligible" persons were introduced to replace the concepts of "amateurs" and "professionals". In 1998, Eligibility rules established a "comprehensive pre-authorisation system" by stipulating that eligible skaters could only take part in competitions approved by the ISU, and conducted under the ISU Regulations by ISU-approved officials. Under the 2014 Eligibility rules, the person who breached the Eligibility rules could not be reinstated. This resulted in a lifetime ban, since the loss of eligibility is not limited in time.
There were attempts of independent organisers to hold alternative speed skating events.
Icederby International co., Ltd sought to set up a series of events titled ‘Icederby Grand Prix’ scheduled to run for six consecutive years from 2014 to 2020. Run by a Korean event organiser, it offered unprecedented prize money to attract the world's best skaters.
In 2011, Icederby International approached the ISU to enter into a partnership agreement and presented its action plan. Initially, Icederby included betting in connection with its planned Grand Prix in countries where betting was not prohibited. In January 2012, the ISU updated its Code of Ethics to rule out the participation in all forms of betting. Two years later, Icederby notified the ISU that no betting would be organised in connection with the planned Dubai Icederby Grand Prix as betting is illegal in Dubai.
Nonetheless, the ISU did not authorise the Dubai Icederby Grand Prix 2014 and announced that all skaters who take part in the Icederby event would be subject to the lifetime ban established by the Eligibility rules. In consequence, Icederby decided not to organise the Dubai Icederby Grand Prix 2014 due to its difficulty to secure the participation of speed skaters.
Two professional speed skaters, Mark Tuitert and Niels Kerstholt, lodged a complaint and on 5 October 2015, the European Commission initiated formal antitrust proceedings into alleged anti-competitive restrictions imposed by the International Skating Union on athletes and officials' economic activities and alleged foreclosure of competing alternative sport event organisers.
On 20 October 2015, the ISU published the procedure for independent organisers to receive authorisation from the ISU Council. Under the 2016 Eligibility rules, the sanctions imposed on a skater participating in non-authorised events ranged from a warning to periods of ineligibility running from an unspecified minimum to a maximum of a lifetime.
In December 2017, the European Commission decided that ISU's eligibility rules breach EU competition laws. The Commission gave the ISU 90 days to amend the rules and did not impose a fine.
The ISU disagreed with the decision, suspended the enforcement of the rules subject to the Commission decision, and put in place provisional rules.
In addition, the ISU filed an appeal against the EU Commission decision pending before the EU General Court.
Commercial aspects.
The ISU, as an Olympic Winter Sport Federation, derives its revenues from
In 2018, the ISU generated a worldwide consolidated turnover of CHF 35.6 million, as compared to CHF 36.9 million for the financial year 2017.
For the financial year 2018, the operating income for Television ISU Events (net) amounted to around 17 million CHF, and for advertising events (sponsorship agreements) to around 6.9 million CHF.
Whereas the situation regarding TV events appears to be relatively stable, the conclusion of sponsorship agreements becomes more challenging due to a highly competitive market environment. Thus, ISU has been unable to replace the Speed Skating Title Sponsor with a similarly lucrative agreement. Also, as ISU Members in China and the Republic of Korea were, for different reasons, unable to host ISU Short Track Speed Skating Events during the 2018/19 season, the ISU was also unable to maintain sponsorship agreements in those countries.
As the ISU sport disciplines significantly contribute to the success of the Olympic Winter Games, the ISU can also continue to rely on substantial amounts provided by the IOC. After the successful 2018 Olympic Winter Games (OWG) in South Korea, these incomes have increased as compared to the 2014 OWG in Sochi and are again close to the level of the 2010 OWG of Vancouver.
To ensure a substantial annual interest income independent from commercial partners’ interests, the ISU employs a long-standing conservative investment policy. The interest income on high-rated bonds from Credit Suisse, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, and UBS accrued at the end of the financial year 2018 amounted to CHF 1.44 million.
In 2020 the ISU launched the ISU Skating Awards. The winners of the inaugural edition were Yuzuru Hanyu (Most Valuable Skater), Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron (Most Entertaining Program), Alena Kostornaia (Best Newcomer), Madison Chock / Evan Bates (Best Costume), Eteri Tutberidze (Best Coach), Shae-Lynn Bourne (Best Choreographer) and Kurt Browning (Lifetime Achievement Award).
References.
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Figure skating
Ice sport performed on figure skates
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance; the four individual disciplines are also combined into a team event, which was first included in the Winter Olympics in 2014. The non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating, Theater on Ice, and four skating. From intermediate through senior-level competition, skaters generally perform two programs (the short program and the free skate), which, depending on the discipline, may include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or moves.
Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level (senior) at local, regional, sectional, national, and international competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU) regulates international figure skating judging and competitions. These include the Winter Olympics, the World Championships, the World Junior Championships, the European Championships, the Four Continents Championships, the Grand Prix series (senior and junior), and the ISU Challenger Series.
The sport is also associated with show business. Major competitions generally conclude with exhibition galas, in which the top skaters from each discipline perform non-competitive programs. Many skaters, both during and after their competitive careers, also skate in ice shows, which run during the competitive season and the off-season.
Terminology.
The term "professional" in skating refers not to skill level but competitive status. Figure skaters competing at the highest levels of international competition are not "professional" skaters. They are sometimes referred to as amateurs, even though some earn money. Professional skaters include those who have lost their ISU eligibility and those who perform only in shows. They may also include former Olympic and World champions who have ended their competitive career, as well as skaters with little or no international competitive experience. In addition to performing in ice shows, professional skaters often compete in professional competitions, which are held throughout the world, each with its own format and rules.
The term "figure skating" is an English language term; the sport is called "Eiskunstlauf" in German and "patinage artistique" in French.
Figure skates.
The most visible difference from ice hockey skates is that figure skates have a set of large, jagged teeth called "toe picks" on the front part of the blade. These are used primarily in jumping and should not be used for stroking or spins. If used during a spin, the toe pick will cause the skater to lose momentum, or move away from the center of the spin. Blades are mounted to the sole and heel of the boot with screws. Typically, high-level figure skaters are professionally fitted for their boots and blades at a reputable skate shop. Professionals are also employed to sharpen blades to individual requirements.
Blades are about thick. When viewed from the side, the blade of a figure skate is not flat, but curved slightly, forming an arc of a circle with a radius of . This curvature is referred to as the "rocker" of the blade. The "sweet spot" is the part of the blade on which all spins are rotated; this is usually located near the stanchion of the blade, below the ball of the foot. The blade is also "hollow ground"; a groove on the bottom of the blade creates two distinct edges, inside and outside. The inside edge of the blade is on the side closest to the skater; the outside edge of the blade is on the side farthest from the skater. In figure skating, it is always desirable to skate on only one edge of the blade. Skating on both at the same time (which is referred to as a "flat") may result in lower skating skills scores. The apparently effortless power and glide across the ice exhibited by elite figure skaters fundamentally derives from efficient use of the edges to generate speed.
Skates used in singles and pair skating have a set of large, jagged teeth called a toepick on the front of each blade. The toepicks are mainly used to help launch the skater into the air for the take-off when performing jumps. Ice dance blades have smaller toepicks than blades used for the other disciplines.
During a spin, skaters use the sweet spot of the blade, which is one of two rockers to be found on a blade and is the roundest portion of the blade. The sweet spot is located just behind the toe pick and near the middle of the blade. The other rocker is the more general curvature of the blade when stroking or gliding.
Ice dancers' blades are about an inch shorter in the rear than those used by skaters in other disciplines, to accommodate the intricate footwork and close partnering in dance. Dancers' blades also have a smaller toepick as they do not require the large toepick used for jumping in the other disciplines. Hard plastic "skate guards" are used when the skater must walk in his or her skates when not on the ice, to protect the blade from dirt or material on the ground that may dull the blade. Soft blade covers called "soakers" are used to absorb condensation and protect the blades from rust when the skates are not being worn. In competition, skaters are allowed three minutes to make repairs to their skates.
There are many different types of boots and blades to suit different disciplines and abilities. For example, athletes who are performing advanced multi-rotational jumps often need a stiffer boot that is higher and gives more support. Athletes working on single or double jumps require less support and may use a less stiff boot. Ice dancers may prefer a lower cut boot that is designed to enable more knee bend.
Likewise, blades designed for free and pairs skating have a longer tail to assist landing. The blade profile and picks are designed to assist with spinning, jump entry, take-off, landing, and exit. Modern blade technology increasingly uses carbon fibre and materials other than steel to make blades lighter. These materials may also be more flexible and help cushion jump landings and be protective of young athlete's joints. Ice dance blades have short tails to enable close foot work and reduce the risk of blade clash in close complex moves. They may also be thinner to assist with glide and fast changes of edge.
Off-ice training is the term for physical conditioning that takes place off the ice. Besides regular physical exercise, skaters do walk-throughs of jumps off the ice to practice sufficient rotation and height of their jumps, and to practice consistency in landing on one foot. In 2020/2021 many athletes relied on a variety of off-ice training and conditioning methods due to rinks being closed due to COVID-19.
Ice rinks and rink equipment.
Since 1980, all figure skating competitions must be held in completely covered and enclosed rinks. The rule was expanded to include practice rinks in 1984. According to figure skating historian James R. Hines, the development of indoor ice rinks, other than the development of the bladed skate during the 14th century and the practice of fastening boots permanently to skates in the 19th century, has had the greatest effect on figure skating. It allowed for skating year-round, as well as anywhere in the world, and prevented the cancellation of competitive events due to the lack of ice in outdoor rinks. The first attempts to make artificial ice occurred during the 1870s in England and the U.S. The first notable indoor ice rink was made in 1876, by John Gamgee, in Chelsea along the north bank of the Thames River; it measured 24 by 40 feet. By the end of the 19th century, many major cities in Europe and North America had indoor rinks.
There is significant variation in the dimensions of ice rinks. Olympic-sized rinks have dimensions of , NHL-sized rinks are , while European rinks are sometimes . The ISU prefers Olympic-sized rinks