Figure Skating at the Winter Olympics

Figure Skating at the Winter Olympics: The origin of skating can be traced back to the ancient days. The sport, figure skating developed into its present form during the nineteenth century. Figure skating is a discipline of skating, where skaters perform in singles, couples or in group on the ice. All the figure skating performances are accompanied by music. The figure skating programs include a number of jumps, spins, steps and turns. Figure skating is often referred to as "artistic skating". During the 1880s, skaters started contesting in the sport. Now, the figure skating competitions are held in multiple levels-from novice to the international level. The International Skating Union or the ISU is the international governing body of figure skating.

Figure Skating in the Winter Games: Figure skating was contested during the 1908 London Olympics and the 1920 Antwerp Summer Olympics. The sport became a part of the Winter Olympic skating program at the 1924 Chamonix Winter Olympics. After the 1924 Games, the figure skating has been contested at every Winter Olympics.

Currently the events contested during the Olympic figure skating competition are-

• Ladies
• Men's
• Ice Dance
• Pairs

All the events are divided into various sections. The singles and pairs events consist of a short program and free skating. The sections of the ice dancing event are compulsory, original and free dances.

Categories of Figure Skating: Figure skating can be divided into various categories on the basis of the forms of the sport event. The most common categories of figure skating are-

• Singles figure skating for men and women
• Pair figure skating
• Ice dancing

Other categories of figure skating, which are not held much regularly at the inter-nation competitions, are-

• Synchronized figure skating
• Compulsory figures
• Special figures
• Moves in the field or "field moves"
• Fours
• Theatre on ice or "ballet on ice
• Adagio figure skating
• Acrobatic figure skating

Rules of Figure Skating: The International Skating Union or the ISU is authorized to set rules for figure skating at the international level. Some of the rules are-

• The dimension of the skating rink is predetermined by the ISU rule-book.
• All the participants are given points on their performances during the competition. A specified pointing system approved by the ISU is used during the international figure skating competitions.
• A number of judges are appointed during the international figure skating competitions to monitor the skaters' performances.
• The programs of various figure skating events must included the elements specified by the ISU in its rule-book
• The officials are not allowed to encourage or make any comments for the competitors during the free skating program.
• Points are deducted from the competitors' scores for violation of any rule during the competition.
• The maximum number of participants at the international figure skating competitions is fixed by the ISU rule-book.
• All the equipments used during the figure skating competitions have to be approved by the ISU.
• The duration of the skating programs are specified by the ISU in its rule-book.

Medal winners of Figure Skating: The United States, Canada, Russia, China, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany have been dominating the domain of figure skating at the international level. Sherwin C. Badger, Theresa Weld Blanchard, Linda Fratianne Maricich, Dorothy Hamill, Beatrix Loughran, Janet Lynn, Tenley Albright, Brian Boitano, Richard T. Button, Peggy G. Flemming, Jackson Haines, Scott Hamilton, Carol Heiss, Sonia Heine, David Jenkins, Hayes Alan Jenkins, Janet Lynn, Jeannette Altwegg, Oleg Protopopov, Liudmilla Belousova, Willy Boeckl, Andree Joly, Pierre Brunet, Herbert J. Clarke, Cecelia Colledge, Tom Collins, Toller Cranston, John Curry, Frances Dafoe, Norris Bowden, Richard Dwyer, Ria Baran Falk, Paul Falk, Carlo Fassi, Jacques Favart, Willie Frick, Sheldon Galbraith, Arnold Gerschwiler, Jacques Gerschwiler, Ekaterina Gordeeva, Sergei Grinkov, Gillis Grafstrom, Werner Groebi, Georg Hasler, Ernst Baier, Maxi Herber, William O. Hickok IV, Midori Ito, Donald Jackson, Courtney L. Jones, OBE, Felix Kaspar, James Koch, Lily Kronberger, Gustave Lussi, Jutta Muller, Howard Nicholson, Charlotte Oelschlagel, Liudmila Pakhomova, Alexander Gorshkov, Alex Paulsen, T.D. Richardson, Ronald Robertson, Irina Rodina, Louis Rubenstein, Ulrich Salchow, Barbara Ann Scott, Karl Schafer, Edi Scholdan, F. Ritter Shumway, Madge Syers, Herma Szabo Stark, Christopher Dean, Jayne Torvill, Dianne Towler, Bernard Ford, William Thayer Tutt, Robert Paul, Barbara Wagner, Jean Westwood, Lawrence Demmy, Reginald J. Wilkie, Montgomery Wilson, Katarina Witt, Benjamin T. Wright and Kristi Yamaguchi are some of the famous figure skaters allover the world.