Figure skating is a difficult-to-coordinate speed skating sport. Since 1924 it has been included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games. The first official competition took place in 1882 in the Austrian capital.
Instructions
Step 1
According to research, the first competitions in the skill of skating on ice with a variety of figures, while maintaining a graceful pose, took place in the Netherlands in the XII-XIV centuries. At this time, skates were made not of bone, but of iron. In 1742, already in the British Empire, in the city of Edinburgh, the first clubs appeared, uniting fans of figure skating. They developed a list of figures that must be performed in European competitions. In 1772, Robert Jones published A Treatise on Ice Skating, where he described the main figures known at that time.
Step 2
Figure skating received significant development in Canada and the USA, where it came from Europe. Numerous ice skating clubs and schools of technology appeared in America. By the middle of the 19th century, almost all modern compulsory elements of figure skating and techniques for their implementation were known. All eights, threes, hooks and tops were described in D. Anderson's book The Art of Ice Skating.
Step 3
Jackson Haynes, a US citizen, invented a new style of ice skating in the years 1850-1860: riding to music with dance moves and basic curly elements. However, America rejected his ideas, and Jackson went on tour to Europe, where he was received with a standing ovation.
Step 4
In 1871, during the first Speed Skating Congress, figure skating was recognized as a new sport. 11 years later, the first official competition took place in Austria, in which only a few athletes participated. In 1890, the best skaters from the countries of the American and European continent came to St. Petersburg to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the skating rink in the Yusupov Garden. The competition was held on such a large scale that the International Skating Union was soon created. He was supposed to organize international competitions in this sport.
Step 5
In 1896, the first world championship took place in the cultural capital of Russia. It should be noted that the first competitions were held among male singles. For women, the first world competition took place only in January 1906. The pair skaters did not lag behind, their first performances took place in 1908 at the World Championships in St. Petersburg. The most titled figure skaters of the pre-war period: Norwegian Sonia Heni among women singles, German Karl Schaefer in men and pair skaters from Germany Anna Hubler and Heinrich Burger.
Step 6
Ice dancing sport also originated in the UK in the 1930s. After 22 years, the discipline was included in the world championship program. In the post-war years, the first programs with rich jumps and double axel appeared in figure skating. Figure skating flourished in 1960-2000.
