Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance; the four individual disciplines are also combined into a team event, which was first included in the Winter Olympics in 2014. The non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating, Theater on Ice, and four skating. From intermediate through senior-level competition, skaters generally perform two programs, which, depending on the discipline, may include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or moves.
Tanith Jessica Louise Belbin White is a Canadian American ice dancer and Olympic program host for NBC Sports. Though born in Canada, she holds dual citizenship and has competed for the United States since she began skating with Benjamin Agosto in 1998. With Agosto, Belbin is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, four-time World medalist, three-time Four Continents champion (2004–2006), and five-time U.S. champion (2004–2008).
Galit Chait is an Israeli former competitive ice dancer. She and her partner Sergei Sakhnovski competed internationally for Israel from 1995 to 2006, becoming the 2002 World bronze medalists.
Gennadi Mikhailovich Karponosov is an ice dancing coach and a former competitive ice dancer for the Soviet Union. With Natalia Linichuk, he is the 1980 Olympic champion and a two-time World champion.
Tessa Jane McCormick Virtue is a Canadian retired ice dancer. With ice dance partner Scott Moir, she is the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medallist, a three-time World champion, a three-time Four Continents champion, the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final champion, an eight-time Canadian National champion, the 2006 World Junior champion and the 2006 Junior Grand Prix gold medallists. Virtue and Moir are also the 2018 Olympic gold medallists in the team event and the 2014 Olympic silver medallists in the team event. Upon winning their third Olympic gold medal, they became the most decorated Canadian ice dance team of all time and the most decorated Olympic figure skaters of all time. Widely regarded as one of the greatest ice dance teams of all time, they are the only ice dancers in history to achieve a Super Slam, having won all major international competitions in their senior and junior careers. Virtue and Moir are holders of the world record score for the now-defunct original dance.
Jerod Swallow is an American ice dancer. With his wife Elizabeth Punsalan, he is a five-time U.S. national champion, two-time Skate America champion, and competed twice in the Winter Olympics.
Donald Adair is an American former ice dancer. With Renée Roca, he is the 1986 U.S. national champion. An injury led to Adair's sudden retirement from competitive skating prior to the 1987 World Championships. He married Kelley Morris, the 1977 U.S. junior champion in ice dancing. They have coached at the Indiana Skating Academy in Indianapolis and the Louisville Skating Academy in Louisville, Kentucky.
Natalya Vladimirovna Linichuk is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitive ice dancer for the Soviet Union. With partner and husband Gennadi Karponosov, she is the 1980 Olympic champion and a two-time World champion.
Meryl Davis is a former competitive American ice dancer. With partner Charlie White, she is the 2014 Olympic champion, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time World champion, five-time Grand Prix Final champion (2009–2013), three-time Four Continents champion and six-time U.S. national champion (2009–2014). They also won a bronze medal in the team event at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Country changing is a phenomenon in the figure skating world in which skaters change the country they represent in competition. There are many different reasons why competitors switch countries, but it mostly comes down to maximizing the possibility of being able to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships and the Winter Olympic Games. A skater who cannot do that representing their home country often looks for another one. Because spots to Worlds and the Olympics are allotted by country, not by skater, a skater can hope to transfer to a new country and have a better chance of becoming national champion, being sent to Worlds, and qualifying for a spot in the Olympics.
The British Figure Skating Championships are held annually to determine the national champions of the United Kingdom. Skaters compete in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance at all levels, although not every discipline is held every year due to a lack of participants.
Jean Thomson Westwood was a British ice dancer. With partner Lawrence Demmy, she was the World Champion for four consecutive years, 1952 to 1955, and European Champion in its first two editions in 1954 and 1955. They were inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1977.
The 2010–11 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final was a figure skating competition in the 2010–11 season, held in conjunction with the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. It was the culminating competition of both the 2010–11 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition, and the 2010–11 ISU Junior Grand Prix, a junior-level international competition.
The 2010 Cup of China was the third event of six in the 2010–11 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on November 4–7. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2010–11 Grand Prix Final.
The 1995 U.S. Figure Skating Championships took place between February 7 and 11, 1995, in Providence, Rhode Island. 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.
Walter Eugene Muehlbronner was a German-American figure skater. He became a U.S. citizen in 1946. He competed in pairs and ice dance with Irene Maguire, whom he married in 1951. They won national silver medals in both pairs and ice dance in 1949 and 1950. The two continued skating as professionals, billed as "Walter and Irene" for 7 years, in the Ice Follies.
Dorothyann Nelson is a former American figure skater. She skated with partner Pieter Kollen. Together they were the champions in pair skating at the 1962 United States Figure Skating Championships and also won the silver medal in ice dance at the same event. Nelson retired from competition in 1962 in order to skate professionally with Ice Follies.
Lauri Bonacorsi is an American ice dancer. With former partner Travis Mager, she is the 2011 and 2012 U.S. Junior silver medalist.
