Figure skating at the Olympic Games

Figure skating was first contested in the Olympic Games at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Since 1924, the sport has been a part of the Winter Olympic Games.

Figure skating at the Olympic Games
Governing body	ISU
Events	5 (men: 1; women: 1; mixed: 3)
Games
1908 1920 (at the Summer Olympics) 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Medalists

Men's singles, ladies' singles, and pair skating have been held most often. Ice dance joined as a medal sport in 1976 and a team event debuted at the 2014 Olympics. Special figures were contested at only one Olympics, in 1908. Synchronized skating has never appeared at the Olympics but aims to be included.[1]

History

Figure skating was first contested as an Olympic sport at the 1908 Summer Olympics, in London, United Kingdom. As this traditional winter sport could be conducted indoors, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved its inclusion in the Summer Olympics program.[2] It was featured a second time at the Antwerp Games,[3] after which it was permanently transferred to the program of the Winter Olympic Games, first held in 1924 in Chamonix, France.[2]

In London, figure skating was presented in four events: men's singles, women's singles, men's special figures, and mixed pairs. The special figures contest was won by Russian Nikolai Panin, who gave his country its first ever Olympic gold medal.[4] He remains the event's sole winner, as it was subsequently dropped from the program.

Ice dance joined as a medal sport in 1976, after appearing as a demonstration event at Grenoble 1968.[3]

A team event debuted at the 2014 Olympics.[5] It consists of two segments: qualification and finals. During qualification each team has one men's single skater, one ladies' single skater, one pair, and one ice dance couple skate their short program/dance. Before the finals, each team is allowed to replace up to two skaters/couples. The final consists of each skater/couple skating their short program/dance. Results are determined by placement points.[6]

Qualifying

The number of entries for the figure skating events at the Olympic Games is limited by a quota set by the International Olympic Committee. There are 30 participants in each singles events (ladies and men), 20 pairs, and 24 ice dance duos.

Skaters must represent a member nation of the International Skating Union and reach the age of fifteen before July 1 of the previous year. They are also required to be citizens of the country they are representing.[7] Competitors have until just before the Olympics to receive citizenship. Since nationality rules are less strict for the ISU Championships, sometimes skaters who have competed at World or European championships are not eligible for the Olympics.

80% of the Olympic spots (24 men/ladies, 19 dance couples, 16 pairs) are allotted to countries according to the results of the previous year's World Figure Skating Championships. A country may have a maximum of three entries per discipline. Countries earn two or three entries by earning points through their skaters' placements. The points are equal to the sum of the placements of the country's skaters (top two if they have three). If a country only has one skater/couple, that skater/couple must place in the top ten to earn two entries and in the top two to earn three entries. If a country has two skaters/teams, the combined placement of those teams must be 13 or less to qualify 3 entries, and 28 or less to qualify two entries. The remaining places are awarded to one skater/couple each from countries that failed to get multiple places, in order of their skaters' placement in the world championships.

Following the World Championships, countries that have not qualified an entry in a particular discipline receive another opportunity in an international competition held in the autumn (usually the Nebelhorn Trophy) prior to the Olympic Games. Six spots are available in men's singles, six in ladies' singles, four in pairs, and five in ice dance. At some Olympics, the host country is automatically entitled to one entry in each discipline, e.g. in 1994,[8] 2010,[9] and 2018 if minimum scores are achieved.[10] If a country receives a spot by being the host, one fewer spot is available in the autumn qualifying competition.

The selection of representatives is at the national governing body's discretion. Some countries rely on the results of their national championships while others have more varied criteria. This may include reaching a certain placement at the European Figure Skating Championships and the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.[8]

Events

Event	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	Years
Men's singles	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	25
Men's special figures	•																										1
Ladies' singles	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	25
Pair skating	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	25
Ice dance															•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	12
Mixed team																									•	•	2
Total events	4	0	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5

Medal table

Updated after the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	15	16	20	51
2	Russia (RUS)	14	9	3	26
3	Soviet Union (URS)	10	9	5	24
4	Austria (AUT)	7	9	4	20
5	Canada (CAN)	6	11	12	29
6	Great Britain (GBR)	5	3	7	15
7	Sweden (SWE)	5	3	2	10
8	Germany (GER)	4	2	3	9
9	France (FRA)	3	3	7	13
10	East Germany (GDR)	3	3	4	10
11	Japan (JPN)	3	3	1	7
12	Norway (NOR)	3	2	1	6
13	Unified Team (EUN)	3	1	1	5
14	China (CHN)	1	3	4	8
15	Netherlands (NED)	1	2	0	3
	Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)	1	2	0	3
	United Team of Germany (EUA)	1	2	0	3
18	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	1	1	3	5
19	Finland (FIN)	1	1	0	2
	South Korea (KOR)	1	1	0	2
21	Belgium (BEL)	1	0	1	2
	Ukraine (UKR)	1	0	1	2
23	Russian Empire (RU1)	1	0	0	1
24	Hungary (HUN)	0	2	4	6
25	Switzerland (SUI)	0	2	1	3
26	Italy (ITA)	0	0	2	2
	West Germany (FRG)	0	0	2	2
28	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	0	0	1	1
	Spain (ESP)	0	0	1	1
Totals (29 nations)		91	90	90	271

Participating nations

The number in each box represents the number of figure skaters the nation sent.

Nation	08	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	Years
Argentina	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Armenia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	3	2	-	-	-	3
Australia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	2	6	-	-	-	2	2	2	4	3	2	4	2	1	1	4	4	15
Austria	-	-	4	9	2	12	10	4	8	6	10	8	3	6	3	-	2	1	-	1	-	1	2	4	2	20
Azerbaijan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	3	2	-	2	-	4
Belgium	-	2	3	2	1	4	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	1	1	2	1	2	13
Belarus	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	2	2	1	-	-	-	4
Brazil	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	2
Bulgaria	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	1	1	4	3	5	-	-	-	7
Canada	-	-	2	5	6	6	4	6	7	8	12	10	7	11	6	15	17	13	13	10	12	13	12	17	17	23
China	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	6	6	4	4	4	11	9	9	9	11	11
Chinese Taipei	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	3
Croatia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	4
Czechoslovakia	-	-	1	3	1	3	7	-	4	2	8	8	1	6	2	3	6	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
Czech Republic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	5	4	1	4	3	5	7
Denmark	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	6
Estonia	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	3	5	2	-	8
Finland	-	3	2	3	1	1	-	2	1	-	-	-	-	1	2	-	-	3	3	1	1	2	3	-	1	16
France	-	2	5	3	2	-	3	2	3	4	5	5	5	1	1	5	6	12	9	14	8	8	8	9	8	23
Georgia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	3	1	1	5
Germany	3	-	-	8	1	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	10	6	4	5	8	10	8	12
United Team of Germany	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	4	11	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
East Germany	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	7	10	7	8	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
West Germany	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	5	4	7	9	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
Great Britain	11	6	6	6	4	12	9	8	8	4	5	7	5	12	9	10	9	7	6	1	2	2	7	6	2	25
Hungary	-	-	-	-	4	7	6	6	2	-	2	2	1	3	2	2	3	5	3	2	2	5	3	-	1	19
Israel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	4	4	2	3	7	7
Italy	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	1	7	2	3	4	7	-	6	9	7	9	11	11	19
Japan	-	-	-	-	2	5	-	-	-	3	4	5	4	3	3	4	5	6	4	7	4	6	8	10	9	18
Kazakhstan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	5	-	-	2	2	3	5
South Korea	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	1	4	-	2	3	7	15
North Korea	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	6	-	-	-	4	1	-	2	5
Latvia	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	3	-	-	-	-	-	2	4
Lithuania	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	2	2	2	-	2	-	6
Luxembourg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	2
Malaysia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
Mexico	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
Netherlands	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
Norway	-	6	1	3	1	4	3	4	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	9
Philippines	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	2
Poland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	3	-	1	3	2	3	5	4	4	4	-	2	12
Romania	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	2	1	2	2	1	1	-	10
South Africa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	3
Russia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	17	16	16	16	15	-	6
Russian Empire	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Olympic Athletes from Russia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	1
Serbia and Montenegro	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1
Slovakia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	-	1	1	3	5
Slovenia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	1	1	1	2	-	-	5
Spain	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	1	1	-	-	2	4	4	8
Sweden	4	4	1	1	2	1	-	2	1	-	1	1	1	-	1	2	2	1	-	1	-	1	1	2	1	20
Switzerland	-	1	1	2	-	3	7	5	4	3	8	1	1	3	2	2	2	-	1	1	4	3	4	-	1	21
Turkey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	2	2	4
Soviet Union	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	4	10	10	16	16	17	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
Ukraine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	10	11	11	7	6	4	7
Unified Team	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
United States	1	2	3	6	12	9	9	10	10	12	12	12	11	15	14	18	16	16	12	13	14	16	15	15	14	25
Uzbekistan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	2	4	3	1	1	1	7
Yugoslavia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
Skaters	21	26	29	51	39	84	64	63	59	71	88	96	67	105	83	112	128	133	129	145	143	147	146	149	153
Nations	6	8	11	12	13	17	12	15	15	14	15	17	18	18	20	20	26	28	28	37	31	35	31	30	32
Year	08	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	25

Medals per year

#

Number of medals won by the NOC at these Games

–

NOC did not win medals at these Games

NOC did not participate at these Games (in 1912, there was no figure skating)

NOC	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	Total
Austria (AUT)	–			3	4	2	3	2	1	2	–	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	20
Belgium (BEL)	–		–	–	1	–	–	1	–	–		–		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2
Canada (CAN)	–		–	–	–	1	–	2	–	1	2	2	–	1	1	–	1	3	1	2	1	1	1	2	3	4	29
China (CHN)																–	–	–	–	1	1	1	2	2	–	1	8
Czechoslovakia (TCH)			–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	1	1	–	–	1	–	1								5
East Germany (GDR)													1	1	3	3	1	1									10
Finland (FIN)	–		1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2
France (FRA)	–		–	1	1	1	–	–	1	–	–	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	1	1	2	1	–	–	–	1	13
Germany (GER)	2				–	–	2		1										–	–	1	–	–	1	1	1	9
United Team of Germany (EUA)										–	1	2															3
Great Britain (GBR)	6		1	1	–	–	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	1	1	1	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	15
Hungary (HUN)	–			–	–	1	1	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6
Italy (ITA)	–		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	–	2
Japan (JPN)			–		–	–	–		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	1	2	1	2	7
Kazakhstan (KAZ)																				–	–	–	–	–	1	–	1
Netherlands (NED)	–		–		–		–	–	–	–	1	1	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		3
Norway (NOR)	–		3	–	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		6
Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)																										3	3
Russia (RUS)																				5	5	5	4	2	5		26
Russian Empire (RU1)	1																										1
South Korea (KOR)													–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		1	1	–	2
Soviet Union (URS)										–	–	1	2	3	4	4	5	5									24
Spain (ESP)																–	–	–		–	–			–	–	1	1
Sweden (SWE)	3		3	1	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10
Switzerland (SUI)	–		–	1	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	3
Ukraine (UKR)																				1	–	–	1	–	–	–	2
Unified Team (EUN)																			5								5
United States (USA)	–		1	1	1	2	–	1	4	5	4	2	2	1	2	2	3	3	3	1	2	3	2	2	2	2	51
West Germany (FRG)													1	–	–	1	–	–									2
Year	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14	18	–

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in figure skating
• List of Olympic medalists in figure skating by age
• List of Olympic venues in figure skating
• Major achievements in figure skating by nation

References

General

• ISU – Olympic Games Figure Skating results:
  • 1908–2002 Men Ladies Pairs Ice dance
  • 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018

Specific

1. Chernoff, Allan (28 February 2013). "A Move to the Front of the Line". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-11-21. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
2. "Figure Skating". Official website of the Olympic Movement. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
3. "Figure Skating: History". Official website of the Olympic Movement. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
4. Windhausen, John D. (1976). "Russia's First Olympic Victor" (PDF). Journal of Sport History. United States of America: North American Society for Sport History. 3 (1): 35–44. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-08-07. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
5. Sarkar, Pritha (29 March 2012). "Figure skating-New team event at Sochi Olympics will begin early". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
6. Anderson Cezar (25 October 2018). "Official Results Book Figure Skating" (PDF). pyeongchang2018.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-02-25. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
7. "2012 Constitution and General Regulations: Rule 108" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
8. Hersh, Phil (26 January 1994). "Hard To Figure: No Norwegian Skaters". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
9. "Special Regulations & Technical Rules" (PDF). International Skating Union. June 2008. pp. 36–38. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2010.
10. "55th ISU Ordinary Congress". International Skating Union. 13 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-08-03. Retrieved 2014-06-14.

External links

Media related to Figure skating at the Olympics at Wikimedia Commons

• International Skating Union