Figure skating in the United States | |
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![]() American Michelle Kwan performing a spiral at the practice for the 2002 United States National Championships. | |
Governing body | U.S. Figure Skating |
National competitions | |
International competitions | |
Figure Skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. Although ice skating began in 3,000 BCE in Scandinavia, American Edward Bushnell's 1855 invention of steel blades and Jackson Haines bringing elements of ballet to figure skating were critical to the development of modern-day figure skating. [1] Since then, figure skating in the United States has grown to have 186,038 members as of the 2020–2021 season. [2]
The governing body of figure skating in the United States is US Figure Skating,"U.S. Figure Skating is a member of the International Skating Union (ISU), the international federation for figure skating; and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC)." [3] U.S. figure skating, along with USA Hockey, endorses Learn to Skate USA, which provides lessons in the basics of skating, including for ice hockey, speed skating, multiple disciplines of figure skating, along with adaptive skating for skaters with disabilities. [4] U.S. Figure Skating also contains a series of levels and testing for skaters beyond Learn to Skate USA. [5] In addition, U.S. Figure Skating also governs collegiate skating, including intercollegiate competitions, collegiate championships, and collegiate synchronized skating. [6] The membership demographics of U.S. Figure Skating are 69% female and 27% male. [2] In addition, Ice Sports Industry "an international industry trade association" hosts competitions, runs learn to skate programs, and offers an alternate set of levels to US Figure Skating. [7]
Ice skating used to be a popular television sport in the United States but has fallen out of favor since the 1970s, and the number of medals they have won at the winter Olympics has declined. [8] [9] [10] This may be partially in response to the financial crisis, as figure skating has always been an expensive sport, as well as in response to the retirement of Michelle Kwan and decline in the international success of the United States with the growing success of the vastly different Russian program. [11]
During the 1860s, Jackson Haines created and popularized figure skating in the United States. [12] [13]
In 1914, the first U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held. [14]
In 1928, Maribel Vinson set the record for most U.S. national championship titles at 9. Michelle Kwan has since tied this record. [15]
At the 1948 Olympics, 14-year-old American Dick Button became the first person to land a double axel in competition, having only landed it for the first time days earlier. [16] He then became the first to land a triple jump in competition at the Oslo 1952 Olympic Winter Games. [16]
In 1953, 15-year-old Tenley Albright became the first American woman to win a world championship title. In 1956, she became the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. [17]
In 1956, synchronized skating was founded in Ann Arbor Michigan by Dr. Richard J. Porter. His team, the Hockettes began skating in between the periods at University of Michigan hockey games. [18]
In 1961, the United States national team was headed to the World Championships in Czechoslovakia when their flight, Sabena Flight 548 crashed, killing the entire world team. [19]
In 1976, Dorothy Hamill became the last female skater to win Olympic gold without including a triple jump. [20]
In 1984, the first United States Synchronized Skating Championships was held. [21]
In July 1990, the ISU stopped including figures as part of competitions, impacting American and International competitions. [22]
In 1992, Kristin Yamaguchi became the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating, and in 1998, she became the first Asian American to be inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. [23]
The 1994 Cobo Arena attack on Nancy Kerrigan increased nationwide interest in figure skating. [11] The controversy itself sparked public interest, as did the quality of women's skating at the time, and figure skating was very popular in the 1990s. [11] Tonya Harding, whose ex-husband was charged with orchestrating the attack on Kerrigan, was the first American woman to land a triple axel in competition. [24] [25] The eventual Olympic competition between Kerrigan and Harding set ratings records. [24] Harding was eventually implicated in the attack, and forced to renounce her membership in U.S. Figure Skating and was barred from the organization. [26] [24]
In 1996 Tara Lipinski became the youngest person to win the world championship, and in 1998, she became "the youngest winner of an individual event in the history of the Winter Games". [27]
From 1996 to 2005, Michelle Kwan won the U.S. national championships 9 times and won the World Championships 5 times. Although she never won Olympic gold, she did win a silver in 1998 and bronze medal in 2002. [28] She is the most decorated American woman in figure skating. [29]
Beginning in 2004 and fully implemented by 2006, the ISU implemented the ISU Judging system, a new code of points replacing the old 6.0 system and used in both American and international competition. [30]
In 2018, Mirai Nagasu became first ever U.S. woman to land the triple axel in Olympic competition. [31]
In 2019, then 13 year-old Alysa Liu became the youngest U.S. women's figure skating champion. [32]
As of the 2020 U.S. synchronized skating championships, synchronized skating team the Haydenettes have won a total of 28 US national titles, and have won the last 11 US championships at the senior level. [33]
Currently, the team of senior skaters representing the United States consists of Starr Andrews, Maxine Marie Bautista, Mariah Bell, Amber Glenn, Karen Chen, Gabriella Izzo Alysa Liu, Sierra
Venetta, Bradie Tennell, Audrey Shin and Paige Rydberg in the ladies category, Jason Brown, Nathan Chen, Tomoki Hiwatashi, Jimmy Ma, Maxim Naumov, Yaroslav Paniot, Camden Pulkinen, Andrew Torgashev, Dinh Tran and Vincent Zhou in the men's category, Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez, Katie McBeath and Nathan Bartholomay, Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov, Chelsea Liu and Danny O'Shea, Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson, and Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc in pairs, and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons, Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, Lorraine McNamara and Anton Spiridonov, and Eva Pate and Logan Bye in ice dance. [61] This includes skaters "includes athletes in the A, B and C team envelope, as well as athletes with international assignments". [61] The current senior level synchronized skating teams are The Haydenettes, The Skyliners, Miami University, Adrian College, and the Crystallettes. [62]
Brian Anthony Boitano is an American figure skater from Sunnyvale, California. He is the 1988 Olympic champion, the 1986 and 1988 World Champion, and the 1985–1988 U.S. National Champion.
Tonya Maxene Price is an American former figure skater, retired boxer, and reality television personality.
Michelle Wingshan Kwan is a retired competitive figure skater and diplomat serving as United States Ambassador to Belize. In figure skating Kwan 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.
Nancy Ann Kerrigan is an American former figure skater. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1993 US National Figure Skating Championship. Kerrigan was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2004.
Synchronized skating, often called synchro, is an ice skating sport where between 8 and 20 skaters perform together as a team. They move as a flowing unit at high speed over the ice, while performing elements and footwork.
Francis Michael Carroll was an American figure-skating coach and competitive skater. He had coached three skaters to win the World Figure Skating Championships: Linda Fratianne, Michelle Kwan and Evan Lysacek. Lysacek won the men's Olympic gold medal in 2010 at Vancouver.
U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act and is the United States member of the International Skating Union (ISU). Although the official name of the organization is "the United States Figure Skating Association," it is now known as and conducts business under the name "U.S. Figure Skating." Founded in 1921, U.S. Figure Skating regulates and governs the sport and defines and maintains the standard of skating proficiency. It specifies the rules for testing, competitions, and all other figure skating related activities. U.S. Figure Skating promotes interest and participation in the sport by assisting member clubs, skaters, and athletes, appointing officials, organizing competitions, exhibitions, and other figure skating pursuits, and offering a wide variety of programs.
Audrey Tiffany Chin is an American figure skating coach and former competitor. She is a two-time World bronze medalist (1985–1986), a two-time Skate America champion, and the 1985 U.S. national champion.
Ashley Elisabeth Wagner is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2016 World silver medalist, a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2012 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalist, a thirteen-time Grand Prix medalist, and a three-time U.S. national champion. Wagner competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and placed 7th. At the junior level, Wagner is a two-time World Junior bronze medalist, the 2006-07 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a two-time Junior Grand Prix medalist, and the 2007 U.S. junior bronze medalist.
Mirai Aileen Nagasu is an American figure skater. She is a 2018 Olympic Games team event bronze medalist, three-time Four Continents medalist, the 2007 JGP Final champion, a two-time World Junior medalist, and a seven-time U.S. national medalist.
The Miami University Synchronized Skating Team is a senior-level synchronized skating team from the United States. Their homeclub is Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. They were the U.S. national champions in 1999, 2006 and 2009. They became the first American team to medal at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships by earning the silver medal at the 2007 championships in London, Ontario, Canada. They are three-time winners of the EDI Award for Best Synchronized Skating Performance at the U.S. national championships.
The U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships is an annual synchronized skating competition, sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating, held to determine the national champions of the United States. It was first held in 1984. Teams who qualify at a Sectional Championship competition compete in eight levels: juvenile, intermediate, novice, junior, senior, collegiate, adult and masters. The top two senior teams then go on to compete at the World Synchronized Skating Championships, while at the Junior level the teams competing at the World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships is predetermined by a Junior World Qualifier competition. The teams competing at the Junior Level at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships are competing for international assignment for the next years.
The Haydenettes are a senior-level synchronized skating team representing The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, United States. They are five-time bronze medalists at the World Synchronized Skating Championships, earning the title in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016. Formed in 1979 by Lynn Benson, the Haydenettes are the most successful synchronized skating team in U.S. history, with 30 U.S. National titles.
The 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Medals were awarded in four colors: gold (first), silver (second), bronze (third), and pewter (fourth) in four disciplines – men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing – across three levels: senior, junior, and novice. The event was used to determine the U.S. teams for the 1994 Winter Olympics and the 1994 World Championships.
The U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships, are a collegiate figure skating competition sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. It is the highest level at which figure skating takes place at the college level in the United States. The event has been held since 1986. The event takes place in August of the calendar year, and generally at the beginning of the figure skating season.
The Axel jump or Axel Paulsen jump, named after its inventor, Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, is an edge jump performed in figure skating. It is the sport's oldest and most difficult jump, and the only basic jump in competition with a forward take-off, which makes it the easiest to identify. A double or triple Axel is required in both the short program and the free skating segment for junior and senior single skaters in all events sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU).
Chen Lu is a Chinese former figure skater. She is the 1994 and 1998 Olympic bronze medalist and the 1995 World Champion. Chen won the first ever Olympic medal in figure skating for China.
Larry Holliday is an American figure skater. He is the six time U.S. Adult Championship Masters Men Champion, and he was a member of Team USA in 1990.
Bradie Tennell is an American figure skater. She is a 2018 Olympic team event bronze medalist, the 2020 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2018 CS Autumn Classic champion, the 2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion.
Alysa Liu is an American competitive figure skater. She is the 2022 World bronze medalist, the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy champion, the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion. At age 16, she competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics, placing sixth. At the junior level, Liu is the 2020 World Junior bronze medalist, the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a two-time Junior Grand Prix champion, and the 2018 U.S. junior national champion.
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