Dorothy Stuart Hamill is a retired American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion and 1976 World champion in ladies' singles.
Elizabeth Ann Manley, CM is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. She is the 1988 Olympic silver medallist, the 1988 World silver medalist and a three-time Canadian national champion.
Beatrix "Trixi" Schuba is an Austrian former competitive figure skater who competed in ladies' singles. She is a six-time Austrian national champion (1967–1972), a two-time European champion, a two-time World champion, and 1972 Olympic champion.
Karen Diane Magnussen, OC is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. She is the 1972 Olympic silver medallist and 1973 World champion. She was Canada's Female Athlete of the Year in 1971 and 1972, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1973.
Janet Lynn Nowicki is an American figure skater. She is the 1972 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time world championships medalist, and a five-time senior Ladies U.S. national champion.
The figure skating events at the 1972 Winter Olympics were held at the Makomanai Skating Rink and the Mikaho Indoor Skating Rink.
Nicole Bobek is a retired American figure skater. She is the 1995 U.S. national champion and 1995 World bronze medalist. She also competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Jill Ann Trenary is an American former figure skater. She is the 1990 World champion and a three-time U.S. national champion. She was inducted to the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2002.
Susanna Driano is an American-Italian former competitive figure skater who competed for Italy. She is the 1978 World bronze medalist, a two-time European bronze medalist, and a six-time Italian national champion (1975–80).
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.
Caryn Kadavy is an American professional figure skater and former competitor. She is the 1987 World bronze medalist and a four-time U.S. national medalist. She also competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Emily Samuelson is an American former competitive ice dancer. With former partner Evan Bates, she is the 2009 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2008 World Junior champion, and the 2009 U.S. national silver medalist. The duo competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Samuelson later skated with Todd Gilles.
Shepherd Walton Clark is a famous American competitive figure skater and is the reigning World Figure & Fancy Skating Champion.
Hellmut Seibt was an Austrian figure skater. He was the 1952 Olympic silver medalist, 1951 World bronze medalist, a two-time European champion (1951–52), and three-time national champion.
Heather Kemkaran-Antymniuk is a Canadian former competitive figure skater who competed in ladies' singles. She is the 1977 Vienna Trophy champion, the 1977 Skate Canada International bronze medalist, and a two-time Canadian national champion. She competed at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Maia Harumi Shibutani is a retired American ice dancer. Partnered with her brother Alex Shibutani, she is a two time 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World medalist, the 2016 Four Continents champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion. The siblings have won six titles on the Grand Prix series and stood on the podium at 14 consecutive U.S. Championships, at five levels including eight as seniors. They are two-time members of the US Olympic team, competing at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. In 2018, the siblings became the first ice dancers who are both of Asian descent to medal at the Olympics. They are the second sibling duo to ever share an ice dancing Olympic medal, and the first from the United States. The Shibutani siblings are often referred to by their nickname the Shib Sibs.
The 1971 U.S. Figure Skating Championships was held in Buffalo, New York on January 27–31. The compulsory figure competitions were held at Dann Memorial Rink, while the free skating events were held at the Memorial Auditorium. Medals were awarded in three colors: gold (first), silver (second), and bronze (third) in four disciplines – men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing – across three levels: senior, junior, and novice.
The 1972 U.S. Figure Skating Championships was held from January 13–16 at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California. Medals were awarded in three colors: gold (first), silver (second), and bronze (third) in four disciplines – men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing – across three levels: senior, junior, and novice.
Karen Chen is an American figure skater. She is a 2022 Olympic Games team event gold medalist, two-time CS U.S. Classic bronze medalist, the 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist, the 2017 U.S. national champion, 2022 U.S. national silver medalist, and a three-time U.S. national bronze medalist. She is currently a student at Cornell University.
The demise and revival of compulsory figures occurred, respectively, in 1990, when the International Skating Union (ISU) removed compulsory figures from international single skating competitions, and beginning in 2015, when the first competition focusing entirely on figures took place. Compulsory figures, which is defined as the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles", dominated figure skating for the first 50 years of the sport, although they progressively declined in importance. Skaters would train for hours to learn and execute them well, and competing and judging figures would often take up to eight hours during competitions. Judging scandals and the broadcasts of figure skating on television have been cited as the reason for the decline of figures. The U.S. was the last country to include figures in their competitions, until 1999. The elimination of figures resulted in the increase of focus on the free skating segment and in the domination of younger girls in the sport. Most skaters stopped training with figures, although many coaches continued to teach figures and skaters continued to practice them because figures taught basic skating skills and gave skaters an advantage in developing alignment, core strength, body control, and discipline.
