Introduction to

figure skating


  • SHORT HISTORY


It took more than 3,000 years for ice skating to become one of the most beloved sports at the Olympics. Skating is believed to be based in Scandinavia in 1000 BC. Of course, skating then had no other purpose than to make winter trips easier. People made their own skates using the materials available around their settlement. It took centuries to get to the sophisticated skates and costumes we see today at competitions. An important factor that contributed to the popularization of this sport was the discovery of artificial ice. The first artificial ice rink opened in London in 1876, after which other countries took over the model. Thus, skating, which was considered a seasonal sport, moves to the next level in 1908 when it is recognised as a sport at the Olympic Games.



Costumes play a decisive role in figure skating competitions and there are countless written and unwritten rules regarding the competitors' wardrobe.

Girls are only allowed to wear skirts and bodysuits (however, the jury tends to outperform competitors if they choose to wear a bodysuit). Also, the costumes must be modest and match the song and the choreography. While skaters perform complex and dangerous movements, they must also pay attention to their wardrobe: if the costume touches the ice, or if the skirt rises too much, the jury will penalize according to the rules.

Given all these restrictions, skaters generally choose to work with specialized designers. Often a cost can reach the price of 4000 euros.

As impressive as the costumes and the performances are, so are the lives of the skaters. Each has a different and interesting story about how their experience on ice has been. A film that we recommend to better understand the life "behind the curtain" is: "I, Tonya". The plot follows the life of one of the most controversial skaters in history, Tonya Harding.



  • GRACE, AMBITION AND PRECISION


Over the years there have been countless discussions about rather or not ice skating should be considered a sport. What keeps me looking at figure ice skating competitions is that I know that, skaters have countless hours of difficult training and yet, when they get on the ice to perform, it seems to be the most natural thing possible. The elegance and the ease with which the movements are performed makes everything so pleasant to look at and indeed, you can say at first sight that skating is an art, not a sport. But if we think about everything an ice skater has to do in order to get to participate in a competition, we can say that ice skating is a sport. The most beautiful thing when it comes to figuring skating is exactly the combination of sport and art.



  • LIFE ON SKATES


At the Olympic Games, there is 4 figure skating events: the individual event (male and female), the pair event and the dance event. Regardless of the chosen category, in order to reach performance, a lot of discipline is required. In order to adapt to this lifestyle as soon as possible, most skaters start training at the age of 3. They train 2-3 hours "on land" (without this training skaters would not be able to perform on ice). Land training involves athletics, gymnastics, ballet and learning of the choreography. Only after that, skaters are allowed to get on the ice, where they will train for another 3 hours. (I got tired just thinking about this training)



  • Figure skating in Romania


Figure skating was born here as well, on our lands, around the middle of the 19th century. At first it was practiced only on frozen lakes, in an unofficial form that could not be compared with the rest of Europe. Fortunately, it had evolved and perfected, organizing in 1910 shows announced in the big Romanian newspapers. It had only lasted about twelve years for ” Federation of Sports Societies in Romania” to set up a skating committee that would play the role of a national federation. A few years later Romania already had championships all over the country.

As we know, Romanians have always been leaders in sports. Figure skating was no exception. In 1930 we had winners of the national championship (Adalbert Horosz form Cluj, Maria Pop from Brașov and the pair Manouschek – Beke from Cluj) and in 1939 we took good classaments in the European Championship in Zakopane (Gubert Heurchert – 8th place, Moldovan Fieraru – 9th place) and in Budapest (Maxim Bindea took 10th place).

Lots of athletes on the ice they made our name known on the whole continent over several years.

However, the most important moment of ice sports in Romania it was in 1984 when it opened ”Olympic Center for Juniors”. Since then, figure skating has undoubtedly become an important sport for our country.



In conclusion, figure skating is a difficult sport that requires a lot. Unfortunately, does not rank among the most popular sports, football taking first place. We hope that, with the help of this article, we will give it the attention it deserves. Until then, keep your head on your shoulders and the heart with artists on the ice!


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editorial: Maria Alexandru,

Andreea Seba

graphic design: Andreea Seba

translation: Maria Alexandru,

Andreea Seba

DP (desktop publishing): Ioana Butaru