FIGURE SKATING

Dumitru Diana-Mihaela
11 B
 Ice skating, the recreation and sport of gliding
across an ice surface on blades fixed to the
bottoms of shoes (skates). The activity of ice
skating has given rise to two distinctive sports:
figure skating, which involves the performance
of various jumps, spins, and dance movements;
and speed skating and short-track speed
skating, both of which are forms of racing on
ice skates. Ice hockey is the best-known team
sport that involves skating.
 Ice skating probably developed in Scandinavia as early as 1000 BCE, the first skates being
made from shank or rib bones of elk, oxen, reindeer, and other animals. It is not known when
the metal runner was introduced, but early Dutch prints depict skates with metal blades. Until
the middle of the 19th century the metal portion of the skate was fastened to a wooden
base or footplate and the whole of the skate was fastened to the foot with leather thongs or
straps. A major improvement came from the United States in 1850 when E.W. Bushnell of
Philadelphia introduced the all-steel skate, which replaced the cumbersome wooden
footplate. The main developments in the figure skate after 1900 were the addition of the
toe pick, a group of sawlike teeth located at the toe of the blade, which enabled skaters to
obtain better purchase in the ice when doing certain jumps, and the innovation of the
“closed-toe” blade of one-piece steel, which added strength to the skate and permitted a
much lighter-weight blade.
 The contemporary figure skate, which is the type best suited for general pleasure skating as
well as for figure skating, is easily distinguished from other skates by the toe pick at the
front of its blade. The blade itself is about 4 mm (about 0.157 inch) wide. A hollow ridge
along the blade emphasizes its two sharpened outer edges; these are the surfaces on which
skating movements are made. The blade is approximately the same length as the boot or
shoe to which it is attached. The boot, which is usually black for men and white for women,
has a strong, reinforced arch support and a stiffening material around the heel and under
the arch. The speed skate is low-cut, allowing for freer movement of the ankle. Its blade is
much longer than the shoe (usually between 42 and 46 cm [16.5 and 18 inches] long for
men) and only 1 mm (0.039 inch) thick. The hockey skate is a hard, protective boot with a
short blade that is curved at the ends to allow for quick turns.
 As a recreation skating has been continuously
practiced on the canals of the Netherlands since
the Middle Ages by both males and females.
Skating on the frozen ponds and fens was
popular in England in the 17th century, and the
first skating club was formed in Edinburgh,
Scotland, in 1742. In the 1740s British
servicemen introduced ice skating to North
America. It was also popular at the French court
about 1776; Marie-Antoinette was among the
skaters. Napoleon Bonaparte skated at Auxerre
in 1781.
The development of refrigerated ice rinks started the transformation of ice skating from a
seasonal pastime to a major sport and entertainment. The first rink with artificially frozen
ice, a private one, the Glaciarium, was opened in London in 1876. The first artificially frozen
rink in the United States was installed in the old Madison Square Garden in New York City in
1879. Throughout the century more and more public rinks with artificially produced ice
appeared. The ability to create sheets of ice inside large arenas gave rise to both skating
sports and ice shows, which became a popular family entertainment in the 20th century. It
also allowed for ice skating to spread to regions with warm climates.
 Sports involving ice skating alone were organized by the National Skating Association of
Great Britain (1879), the National Amateur Skating Association of the United States (1886),
and the Amateur Skating Association of Canada (1888). These groups, with other national
groups formed in the interim, founded in 1892 the International Skating Union (ISU), which
thereafter became the world governing body for speed skating, ice dancing, and figure
skating. World championships had begun in the 1890s for speed skating (men only) and
figure skating. Women’s speed-skating world championships were first held in 1936. Figure
skating for men, women, and pairs was included in the Olympic program at the 1908
Games in London, and other skating events were added later: speed skating for men in
1924 and for women in 1960; ice dancing in 1976; and short-track speed skating in 1992.
The rise in popularity of ice hockey from its mid-19th-century beginnings coincided with that
of pure skating in the 1920s. Ice hockey appeared in the Summer Olympics in 1920 and
was included in the Winter Games upon their inauguration in 1924. In 1998 women’s hockey
made its Olympic debut.