The standing rotation is one of the three basic positions in figure skating. The two most common variations of the spin while standing on a straight supporting leg are the bend and the biellmann.
What is Biellmann
Biellmann is one of the main elements of figure skating. The skater performs rotation on one leg, while the other leg is held by the hands behind the skate above the head.
This element requires a lot of flexibility from the athlete and is almost always performed by women. But there are cases when men do it too.
Variations
Most skaters use different variations of the Biellmann spin to saturate their show program. One such variation is the cross-grip biellmann. This element looks much more impressive. The skater must grab the free leg with crossed arms. It is not necessary to use the other hand in this position. You can free it to make the element look sleeker.
There is a simplified version of this element and it is called a semi-bilman. It makes it a little easier to capture. When performing it, the skater grabs the free leg by the ankle or knee, and not by the skate.
But the "ring" spiral is considered a complicated version of Biellmann. By performing this element, the skater makes a spiral, not a rotation. In this case, the leg is also in the biellmann position above the head and is grasped by the skate with both hands.
The most difficult version of the rotation is Biellmann with a change of leg. Irina Slutskaya was one of the first to carry it out. When performing this element, it is necessary, without stopping the rotation, to change the leg, while maintaining balance.
History
The Biellmann figure skating element is named after the Swiss figure skater Denise Biellmann. In her demonstration programs, she performed rotations of exceptional technique. Her perfect stretch helped to execute the element at high speed with accurate centering and many turns around it.
The first who decided to fulfill this element in the USSR was Tamara Bratus, in 1960. Performing it, she slightly bent her knees, but despite this, the element was counted.
Male version of Biellmann element
The use of the Biellmann element in men's singles figure skating is extremely rare. The most famous male figure skater performing Biellmann is Evgeni Plushenko.
Recently, the element has begun to be used more and more in the male program. At the 2009 World Championships in the free program, it was successfully performed by Denis Ten.
But Sean Sawyer performed this element several times. He performed it for the first time at demonstration performances after the 2002 Canadian Championships. At the Sochi 2014 Olympics, Evgeni Plushenko and Yuzuru Khania repeatedly used this element in many of their programs.
