Guide to Figure Skating: Olympic History, Rules, and Highlights
Figure skating is awesome! It is perhaps the most graceful and elegant of all the Winter Olympic events, and one that you are probably far too clumsy, too poor, and too far from an accessible ice skating rink to ever be good at. It combines dancing, athleticism, costumes, and high-speed skating — all into one magnificent and breathtaking performance. You’ll find four (4) different figure skating events at the Olympic level: women’s singles, men’s singles, ice dance, and pair skating.
It obviously takes a lot of skill and years of practice to be an Olympic-caliber figure skater. Maybe someday you’ll be one! In the meantime, we have culled together these 14 facts about Olympic figure skating to give you a preliminary understanding of the most classiest and grandest of any sport ever.
1. When did Figure Skating make its Olympic debut?
Figure skating debuted at the 1908 Summer Olympics held in London — yes, the Summer Olympics! — in late October despite the events starting on April 27. Twenty-one (21) athletes from six (6) countries competed in four different figure skating events: Ladies’ singles, pairs, Men’s singles, and Men’s special figures. The gold medal winners were Madge Syers of Great Britain; Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger of Germany; Ulrich Salchow of Sweden; and Nikolai Panin of the Russian Empire, respectively. All in all, Great Britain won a total of six (6) medals for the first figure skating events contested in the Olympics.
Figure skating made another appearance at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belguim, before the very first official Olympics solely dedicated to winter events began at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France.
2. When were the first ice skates invented?
According to Dr. Federico Formenti of University of Oxford and the author a 2008 study called “The First Humans Traveling on Ice: An Energy-Saving Strategy,” the first people to strap on ice skates did so at least 4,000 years ago in Finland. The shitload of lakes in Finland made it make sense for the Finnish to cross lakes and save their energy by gliding rather than haul ass around the lake on their travels. This then-new-fangled method of travel quickly caught on, and people all over Northern Europe were skating by 2,000 B.C. In the early days of ice skating, horse bones and cow bones were used as the skate blade allowing individuals to glide across the ice, sometimes using sticks as if the bones were gondolas.
Of course, ice skates eventually evolved. In the 13th century, metal blades started being used, allowing for a bit more technical skating to be done, and by the 14th century, the iron blades were phasing out the animal bones. It wasn’t until 1848 that this dude E.V. Bushnell created a secure, all-steel clamp-like blade that could be added to any pair of boots.
3. What’s the difference between figure skates and ice hockey skates?
The difference between figure skating skates and ice hockey skates is a serrated edge on the tip of the blade of figure skating skates. This is called a toe pick, and the serrated edge allows the skater to grab the ice and prepare for jumps and pivots and turns. If you’ve always wanted to buy your own pair of figure skates, here is your chance!
Click on the picture to buy your very own figure skates!
4. Do costumes matter in figure skating?
They sure do. It isn’t just a mistake on the ice that can cost a figure skater points in competition. Costumes can be very costly. The hoity-toity figure skating judges may deduct a point from a skater during events if they happen to think that a costume is too provocative or outlandish, even though multiple judges have to agree in order for that to happen. A point can also be deducted if some of the costume falls off onto the ice.
5. How fast can figure skaters spin around?
An experienced figure skater can reach up to 300 revolutions per minute (RPM) when completing spins on the ice — which is so hardcore that can be as many RPMs as an astronaut experiences during centrifuge training. The force in which an ice skater lands on the ice with is incredible: a figure skater weighing approximately 150 pounds (or 68 kilograms), applies more than 1,000 pounds (or 450 kilograms) of pressure upon landing. However, a fall following can seriously injure a skater and put them out of action for some time. After all, the ice doesn’t have any give.
6. Who has won the most Olympic figure skating medals?
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada have won the most Olympic figure skating medals. The ice-dancing duo have won five (5) medals competing at the Winter Games with three of those medals being gold. Virtue and Moir won their medals between 2010 and 2018. Although the duo is the most decorated in terms of medals at the Olympics, the guy with the second-most medals in Olympic history is probably a lot more influential. Sweden’s Gillis Grafström of Sweden won the gold medal at the 1920, 1924, and 1928 Olympics in the individual men’s skating competition. In 1932, Grafström won silver in Lake Placid. In addition to his four (4) Olympic medals, Gillis Grafström created the spiral, the change sit spins, and flying sit spins.
7. Who is the greatest figure skating of all time?
Norwegian Sonja Henie is often considered the GOAT figure skating. Born in 1912, Sonja was a 3x Olympic champion in 1928, 1932, and 1936, as well as a 10x World champion and 6x European champion. If that weren’t enough, Sonja Henie was also a super popular movie star in her day, appearing in films like Thin Ice (1937) and Happy Landing, My Lucky Star (1938). Needless to say, Sonja Henie was an international celebrity and one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, kinda like Reese Witherspoon on ice skates. Other candidates for GOAT figure skaters include Yuzuru Hanyu, Nathan Chen, Kurt Browning, Brian Boitano, Peggy Fleming, and Michelle Kwan.
8. Is figure skating controversial?
You might think it would be easy for a sport where judges subjectively score athletes on their performances would be vulnerable to controversy. But it’s not what happens on the ice that create the biggest controversies within figure skating. In 1994, United States reigning national champion figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by a masked man after a practice session training for the Lillehammer Olympics. It then turned out that the attack was orchestrated by none other than the ex-husband of her rival Tonya Harding. This scandal absolutely dominated the news in a pre-internet America, and Harding proceed to go to the Olympics under a cloud of suspicion. Tonya struggled at the Winter Games, while Nancy Kerrigan finished second and obtained silver. The controversy was the subject of the 2017 film I, Tonya, starring Margot Robbie and Allison Janney. Check out our list of fun facts about I, Tonya!
9. What is the most difficult figure skating move?
Probably the quadruple axel. Once considered by some to be literally impossible, it was accomplished by 17 year-old Ilia Malinin in September 2022 for the first time in figure skating history — and you can see the accomplishment for yourself below.
The move requires the skater to complete four (4) axel rotations with an extra half revolution. The skaters must leap while facing forward and land backwards on the ice. With the leap beginning facing forward and ending it facing backwards, the extra half turn adds extra difficulty.
10. Who is the highest-paid Olympic figure skater?
South Korean Olympic figure skater Yuna Kim is probably the richest figure skater. She retired in 2014 after winning one Olympic gold medal in 2010 and one Olympic silver medal in 2014. If that sounds relatively modest compared to other figure skating GOATs, keep in mind that Yuna Kim has won like every International Skating Union competition during her career, including the Grand Prix Final championship three (3) times. Dominating the South Korea figure skating landscape, Yuna Kim made the sport all the rage in her native country and as such, has received a shitload of sponsorship deal and appeared in countless commercials. In 2014, Forbes reported that Yuna Kim made $16 million in endorsements and considering she is still a big celebrity in South Korea, it’s safe to say she may be worth more by now.
11. Who is the youngest Olympic figure skating champion?
Maxi Herber is the youngest Olympic figure skating champion in history. The German figure skater was only 15 years and 128 days old when she won the gold medal in pair skating with her partner Ernst Baier at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. However, Tara Lipinski is the youngest Olympic gold medalist in the single event at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, when she was 15 years and 255 days old.
12. Who is the oldest Olympic figure skating champion?
Walter Jakobsson is the oldest champion Olympic figure skating champion to be a champion. The Finnish figure skater was 38 years old when he won the gold medal at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, along with his partner — and wife — Ludowika Jakobsson.
13. Who is the youngest Olympic figure skating medalist?
Scott Allen is the youngest Olympic figure skater to win a medal. A mere two (2) days before his 15th birthday, the American figure skater took the bronze medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. The son of prominent Swedish figure skating champion Sonja Fuhrman, Scotty Allen was also the U.S. National Champion in 1964 and 1966.
14. Who is the oldest Olympic figure skating medalist?
Edgar Syers is the oldest figure skater to ever win a medal at the Olympics. The British figure skater won the bronze at the 1908 Olympics in London with his wife Madge Syers. It is worth nothing that only three pairs were part of the events, so basically everybody got a medal in this category in 1908.
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Want to read more facts about other Olympic sports? Check out our posts on biathlon, speed skating, luge, snowboarding, and bobsledding!
Image Credit: photo by Sandro Halank via Wikimedia Commons
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