From 1923 to 1971, skaters from Canada and the United States competed at the biennial North American Figure Skating Championships. This allowed Canadian and American skaters the opportunity to compete at a comparable event to the European Figure Skating Championships. At this time, medal contenders at the World Figure Skating Championships and the Winter Olympics came from either Europe or North America. However, by the mid-1970s, skaters from Asia were also successfully competing at major international events. The last North American Championships were held in 1971, so skaters from Europe had the advantage of an International Skating Union (ISU) championship event that was not accessible to skaters outside of Europe. In order to provide equal opportunities for all skaters, the ISU established the Four Continents Championships in 1999. The name referred to the four continents outside of Europe where competitive figure skating took place: Africa, Asia, Australia (Oceania), and North America. At this time, there were no ISU member nations in South America; Brazil was admitted as the first South American member nation in 2002.[1]
The inaugural Four Continents Championships took place in Halifax, Canada, in 1999. Takeshi Honda of Japan won the men's event, while Tatiana Malinina of Uzbekistan won the women's event. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won the pairs event, and Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz of Canada won the ice dance event.[1] The Four Continents Championships have been held every year since, except for 2021, when the championships were cancelled on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
The 2022 Four Continents Championships were originally scheduled to be held in Tianjin, China,[3] but the Chinese Skating Association cancelled the event on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the ISU could not find a suitable replacement host among non-European nations, they asked the Estonian Skating Union to host the event, as Estonia would also be hosting the 2022 European Championships. The 2022 Four Continents Championships took place one week after the European Championships at the same venue, marking the first and only time that the Four Continents Championships were held in Europe.[4]
Only those competitors who are "members of a non-European ISU Member" are eligible to compete in the Four Continents Championships. Unlike the European Championships, where member nations are only entitled to enter one competitor or team per discipline, but with requirements that must be met in order to submit additional competitors, the Four Continents Championships allow member nations to enter up to three competitors or teams per discipline.[6]
Until the 2023–24 figure skating season, skaters had to be at least 15 years old before July 1 of the previous year. At the ISU Congress held in June 2022, members of the ISU Council accepted a proposal to gradually increase the minimum age limit for senior competition to 17 years old beginning from the 2024–25 season. To avoid forcing skaters who had already competed in the senior category to return to juniors, the age limit remained unchanged during the 2022–23 season, before increasing to 16 years old during the 2023–24 season, and then to 17 years old during the 2024–25 season.[7]
As of 2025, the following countries are eligible to send skaters to the Four Continents Championships: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, New Zealand, North Korea, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), Thailand, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.[8]
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