Portal:Figure skating
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, mixed couples, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork, spirals, and other moves on ice, often set to music. Figure skaters compete in multiple levels, from novice to elite, and at national and international competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU) regulates 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". The four major disciplines of international competition are single skating (both men's and ladies), pair skating, ice dancing, and synchronized skating. Major international competitions are sanctioned by the ISU. The international senior-level figure skating season begins with the invitational ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The six Grand Prix events are Skate America, Skate Canada International, Cup of China, Trophée Eric Bompard, Cup of Russia, and the NHK Trophy. The Grand Prix series concludes with the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, held in December. Other major events include the European Figure Skating Championships, Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, and the World Figure Skating Championships. Every four years, the top skaters also compete in the Winter Olympic Games. 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. 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. 
 Synchronized skating (usually shortened to "synchro"), is a large and fast-growing, yet little recognized, discipline. It consists of 12-16 figure skaters moving as one flowing unit at high speeds across the ice. This discipline of figure skating was originally called precision skating in North America because of the emphasis on maintaining precise formations and timing of the group. For a synchronized team to flow in unison, individual skaters must be competent at a variety of skating skills, including speed, footwork and ice presence. The team performs a program set to music, with required formations including circles, lines, blocks, wheels, and intersections. The teams are required to perform difficult step sequences involving a number of complicated turns. Teams in the senior division are also permitted to perform lifts involving 2 or more people which can be extended overhead to full arm height. In Junior and Senior divisions, teams are required to perform 2 routines; a Short Program and a Free Program. Generally, the Short program is more technical in nature, where the Free program has a longer time limit giving more opportunity to showcase expression, emotion and interpretation. There are international synchronized skating competitions at the novice, junior, and senior levels, and the International Skating Union held the first World Championship in synchronized skating in 2000. 
The Biellmann spin is a one foot figure skating spin in which the skater pulls his or her free leg from behind up and over the head, forming a tear-drop shape with his or her body. A good Biellmann spin requires very great flexibility and spinning ability, and is almost always performed by women. The most prominent male skater to perform the Biellmann spin in competition is Evgeni Plushenko. The spin is named after Swiss figure skater Denise Biellmann, who made it her signature move in the late 1970s. Denise Biellmann did not invent the spin, but was the first skater to perform the move and win a major international title. It is uncertain who invented the spin. Many other figure skating moves are derived from the classic Biellmann spin. A variation where the opposite hand is the one used to lift the leg is called a cross-grab Biellmann. The other hand may or may not be added in this position. There is also the half-Biellmann (also called a catch-foot camel spin), which is a camel spin during which the skater grasps the free blade with either hand and raises the free leg upwards while otherwise maintaining the camel position. Catch-foot spiral positions where the leg is held above the head are also popular. Russian skater Irina Slutskaya is generally credited as the first person to have ever performed a Biellmann spin with a foot change (i.e., doing a Biellmann, then stepping onto the other leg while in the same spin and performing it on the other leg). Since the inception of figure skating's new cumulative points-based judging system, many skaters have used the Biellman position in various elements, such as spiral step sequences, due to its added point value regardless of the quality of the position. Due to its increased use since the inception of the new judging system, the 51st International Skating Union Congress passed a resolution that places a limit on the number of times that a Biellmann position may be used in a skating program. Skaters - Competitions - Clubs - Coaches - Elements
 ...that Axel Paulsen performed the first Axel jump while wearing speed skates, not figure skates? ...that Terry Kubicka performed the first and only legal backflip in Olympic competition? ...that the first triple jump completed in competition was the triple loop? ...that Torvill and Dean are the only team to receive straight 6.0 marks for artistic impression at the Olympic Games?
|
