Michelle Wingshan Kwan is a retired American figure skater. She is a two-time Olympic medalist, a five-time World champion and a nine-time U.S. champion. She is tied with Maribel Vinson for the all-time National Championship record.
The World Figure Skating Championships ("Worlds") is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the categories of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Generally held in March, the World Championships are considered the most prestigious of the ISU Figure Skating Championships. With the exception of the Olympic title, a world title is considered to be the highest competitive achievement in figure skating.
Tatiana Ivanovna Totmianina is a Russian former competitive pair skater. With partner Maxim Marinin, she is the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time World champion, and five-time European champion. The pair began skating together in 1996 and retired from competition in 2006.
Shen Xue is a Chinese pair skater. With her partner and husband Zhao Hongbo, Shen is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion, a three-time Four Continents Champion, and a six-time Grand Prix Final champion.
Zhao Hongbo is a Chinese pair skater. With his partner and wife Shen Xue, Zhao is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion, a three-time Four Continents Champion and a six-time Grand Prix Final champion.
John "Johnny" Weir is an American figure skater and television commentator. He is a two-time Olympian, the 2008 World bronze medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2001 World Junior Champion, and a three-time U.S. National champion (2004–2006). He began skating at the age of 12, two or three times older than when most elite skaters start training. He was the youngest U.S. National champion since 1991, in 2004, the first skater to win U.S. Nationals three times in a row since Brian Boitano in the late 1980s, and the first American to win Cup of Russia, in 2007. Weir had a classical skating style, and was known for being "a very lyrical skater" and "an entertaining artesian". He was also influenced by Russian approaches to figure skating, and developed a connection with Russian history, culture, and language. His costume choices and outspokenness caused conflicts with U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body of the sport in the U.S., throughout his skating career.
Maxim Viktorovich Marinin is a Russian former competitive pair skater. With partner Tatiana Totmianina, he is the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time World champion, and five-time European champion.
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is often referred to informally as "Nationals". Medals are currently awarded in four disciplines: men's (boys') singles, ladies' (girls') singles, pair skating, and ice dancing in four colors: gold (first), silver (second), bronze (third), and pewter (fourth) on two levels, senior and junior. Medals were previously given at the novice, intermediate, and juvenile levels. The event is also used to determine the U.S. teams for the World Championships, World Junior Championships, Four Continents Championships, and Winter Olympics, however, U.S. Figure Skating reserves the right to consider other results.
Albena Petrova Denkova is a Bulgarian ice dancer. With partner and fiance Maxim Staviski, she is a two-time (2006–2007) World champion, a two-time (2003–2004) European silver medalist, and the 2006 Grand Prix Final champion. Denkova and Staviski are the first Bulgarians to medal at the World Figure Skating Championships.
Roman Sergeyevich Kostomarov is a Russian ice dancer. With partner Tatiana Navka, he is the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time World champion (2004–05), three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2003–05), and three-time European champion (2004–06).
Skate America is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It is hosted by U.S. Figure Skating. The location changes yearly. Medals are awarded in four disciplines: men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
Internationaux de France is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It was previously known as the Grand Prix International de Paris (1987–1993), Trophée de France, Trophée Lalique (1996–2003), and Trophée Éric Bompard (2004–2015). Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Organized by the French Federation of Ice Sports, the event is most often held in Paris but has also been hosted by four other cities – Albertville in 1991, Lyon in 1994, Bordeaux in 1995, 2014, and 2015, and Grenoble in 2017 and 2018.
The NHK Trophy is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Organized by the Japanese Skating Federation, it began in 1979 and was added to the Grand Prix series in 1995, the series' inaugural year. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.
The Skate Canada International is an international, senior-level invitation-only figure skating competition organized by Skate Canada. It is the second competition of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating season. The location changes yearly. Medals are awarded in four disciplines: men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. The first Skate Canada International was held in 1973. The 1987 competition in Calgary was the test event for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. It was added to the Grand Prix series in 1995, the year the series began.
The Finlandia Trophy is a senior-level international figure skating competition. Since 1995, it is held annually in Finland in Greater Helsinki region, including Helsinki, Vantaa, and Espoo. It became part of the ISU Challenger Series in the 2014–15 season. Medals may be awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, ice dancing and synchronized skating, although not every discipline is included every year.
The ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships (WSSC) are the world championships for the sport of synchronized skating. Held since 2000, the World Synchronized Skating Championships is an annual event organized by the International Skating Union and attracts the most elite senior-level synchronized skating teams from around the world to compete for the World Championship.
The 2004 Skate America was the first event of six in the 2004–05 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 21–24. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2004–05 Grand Prix Final. The compulsory dance was the Golden Waltz.
The 2004–05 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the eighth season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the junior-level complement to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which was for senior-level skaters. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The top skaters from the series met at the Junior Grand Prix Final.
The 2004 European Figure Skating Championships was a senior international figure skating competition in the 2003–04 season. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. The event was held at the Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary from February 2 to 8, 2004. The compulsory dance was the Austrian Waltz.
The 2005 European Figure Skating Championships was a senior international figure skating competition in the 2004–05 season. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. The event was held at the Palavela in Turin, Italy from 25 January through 30, 2005.
