Figure skating is a Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level (senior), and at local, national, and international competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU) regulates international figure skating judging and competitions. Figure skating is an official event in the Winter Olympic Games. In languages other than English, figure skating is usually referred to by a name that translates as "artistic skating".
Major international competitions are sanctioned by the ISU. These include the Winter Olympic Games, the World Championships, the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, the European Figure Skating Championships, the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.
The sport is also associated with show-business. Major competitions generally include exhibitions at the end in which the top-placing skaters perform for the crowd by showing off their various skills. Many skaters, both during and after their competitive careers, also skate in ice skating exhibitions or shows which run during the competitive season and the off-season.
Disciplines
Olympic sports in figure skating comprise the following disciplines:
- Singles competition for men and women (who are referred to as "ladies" in ISU rulebooks), wherein skaters perform jumps, spins, step sequences, spirals, and other elements in their programs.
- Pair skating teams consist of a woman and a man. Pairs perform singles elements in unison as well as pair-specific elements such as throw jumps, in which the man 'throws' the woman into a jump; lifts, in which the woman is held above the man's head in one of various grips and positions; pair spins, in which both skaters spin together about a common axis; death spirals, and other elements.
- Ice dancing is again for couples consisting of a woman and a man skating together. Ice dance differs from pairs in focusing on intricate footwork performed in close dance holds, in time with the music. Ice dance lifts must not go above the shoulder.
Other disciplines of figure skating include:
- Synchronized skating , for mixed-gender groups of 12 to 20 skaters. This discipline resembles a group form of ice dance with additional emphasis on precise formations of the group as a whole and complex transitions between formations. The basic formations include wheels, blocks, lines, circles, and intersections. The close formations and need for the team to stay in unison add to the difficulty of the footwork performed by the skaters in these elements.
- Compulsory figures , in which skaters use their blades to draw circles, figure 8s, and similar shapes in ice, and are judged on the accuracy and clarity of the figures and the cleanness and exact placement of the various turns on the circles. Figures were formerly included as a component of singles competitions but were eliminated from those events in 1990. Today figures are rarely taught or performed. The United States was the last country to retain a separate test and competitive structure for compulsory figures, but the last national-level figures championship was held in 1999.
- Moves in the field (known in the United Kingdom as field moves ), which have replaced compulsory figures as a discipline to teach the same turns and edge skills in the context of fluid free skating movements instead of being constrained to artificially precise circles.
- Fours , a discipline that is to pairs as pairs is to singles. A team of four skaters, consisting of two men and two women, perform singles and pairs elements in unison, as well as unique elements that involve all four skaters.
- Theatre on ice , also known as "ballet on ice" in Europe. This is a form of group skating that is less structured than synchronized skating and allows the use of props and theatrical costuming.
- Adagio skating , a form of pair skating most commonly seen in ice shows, where the skaters perform many spectacular acrobatic lifts but few or none of the singles elements which competitive pairs must perform.
- Special figures , the tracing of elaborate original designs on the ice, common in the early days of skating.
- Acrobatic skating , also known as "Acrobatics on ice" or "Extreme Skating", is a combination of circus arts, technical artistic gymnastics skills, and figure skating.
Jumps
Main article: Figure skating jumpJumps are one of the most important elements of figure skating.
Jumps involve the skater leaping into the air and rotating rapidly to land after completing one or more rotations. There are many types of jump, identified by the way the skater takes off and lands, as well as by the number of rotations that are completed.
Jumps can be rotated in clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Most skaters are counterclockwise jumpers. For clarity, all jumps will be described for a skater jumping counter-clockwise.
There are six jumps in figure skating that count as jump elements. All six are landed on one foot on the right back outside edge (with counterclockwise rotation, for single and multi-revolution jumps), but have different takeoffs, by which they may be distinguished. The two categories of jumps are toe jumps and edge jumps.
Toe jumps
Toe jumps are launched by tapping the toe pick of one skate into the ice, and include (in order of difficulty from easiest to hardest):
- Toe loops take off from the back outside edge of the right foot and are launched by the left toe pick (toe walleys are similar, but take off from the back inside edge of the right foot);
- Flips, which take off from the back inside edge of the left foot and are launched by the right toe pick;
- Lutzes, which take off from the back outside edge of the left foot and are launched by the right toe pick.
- When skaters accidentally take off from a back outside edge for the Flip jump, the error is called a Lip. When skaters accidentally take off from a back inside edge for the Lutz Jump, the error is called a Flutz, and when the skater falls, he or she is called a Klutz.
Edge jumps
Edge jumps use no toe assist, and include:
- Salchows, which take off from a left back inside edge. Allowing the edge to come round, the opposite leg helps launch the jump into the air and land on one foot;
- Loops (also known as Rittberger jumps) take off from a right back outside edge and land on the same edge;
- Axels, which are the only rotating jump to take off from a forward edge (the left outside edge). Because they take off from a forward edge, they include one-half extra rotations and are usually considered the hardest jump of the six.
Rotations and combinations
The number of rotations performed in the air for each jump determines whether the jump is a single, double, triple, or quadruple (known commonly as a "quad"). Senior-level male single skaters perform mostly triple and quadruple jumps in competition. Triple jumps other than the Axel are commonly performed by female single skaters. Only one female skater has been credited with a quadruple jump in international competition.
In addition to jumps performed singly, jumps may also be performed in combination or in sequence . For a set of jumps to be considered a combination, each jump must take off from the landing edge of the previous jump, with no steps, turns, or change of edge in between jumps. Because of this, the only two jumps that can be performed as the second or third jump in a combination are toe loops and loops, because they take off from the right back outside edge.
In order to use other jumps on the back end of a combination, connecting jumps such as a half loop (which is actually a full rotation, but lands on a left back inside edge) can be used, enabling the skater to put a salchow or flip at the end of the combination. In contrast, jump sequences are sets of jumps, which may involve steps or changes of edge between the jumps.
Other jumps
There are also a number of other jumps that are usually performed only as single jumps and in elite skating are used as transitional movements or highlights in step sequences. These include the half loop, half flip, walley jump, split jump, waltz jump, inside Axel, and one-foot Axel.
Spins
Main article: Figure skating spinsSpins are a required element in most figure skating competitions, and they exist in all four Olympic disciplines.
There are three basic spin positions in figure skating: the sit spin, the camel spin, and the upright spin. Many variations on these positions exist.
During a spin, the skater rotates on the round part of the blade, called the ball of the foot, just behind the toe pick. Spins may be performed singly or in a sequence combining different types of spins.
Spins may be performed on either foot. Like jumping, skaters mostly rotate in the counterclockwise direction, but there are some skaters who rotate in the cloc
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