Definition: The European Figure Skating Championships is a yearly elite figure skating competition where Europe's best figure skaters compete. European figure skating champions in ladies, men's, pairs, and ice dancing are crowned.
Also Known As: The ISU European Figure Skating Championships is called "Europeans" by many people in the figure skating community.
Examples:
The figure skaters who qualify for the European Championships belong to a European member nation of the ISU, International Skating Union, and the event is sanctioned by the ISU. Every country is allowed to send at least one competitor. The competition is the oldest international figure skating competition. Usually, the competition takes place in January.
History:
The first European Figure Skating Championships took place in Hamburg, Germany in 1891. Only men's events took place at that competition. The ladies and and pairs categories were added in 1930. Ice-dance was added to Europeans in 1954.At first, skaters from all over the world competed and took part in "Europeans," but in 1948, after Dick Button of the USA and Barbara Ann Scott of Canada won the men's and ladies titles, the competition was limited to skaters representing European countries. The North American Figure Skating Championships existed at that time, but the last "North Americans" took place in 1971.
After many years, it was decided by the International Skating Union to hold a similar event to "Europeans" for all other countries outside of Europe. In response, the Four Continents Championships began in 1999.
Some Famous European Figure Skating Champions:
Men's Singles:
- Ulrich Salchow - 1898, 1899, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1913
- Dick Button - 1948
- Carlo Fassi - 1953, 1954
- Evgeni Plushenko - 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012
Ladies Singles:
- Sonja Henie - 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936
- Cecilia Colledge - 1937, 1938, 1939
- Barbara Ann Scott - 1947, 1948
- Dianne de Leeuw - 1976
- Katarina Witt - 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
- Surya Bonaly - 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
- Carolina Kostner - 2010, 2012
Pairs
- Jennifer Nicks and John Nicks - 1953
- Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov - 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968
- Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov - 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972
- Irina Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev - 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980
- Irina Vorobieva and Igor Lisovski - 1981
- Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov - 1988, 1990, 1994
- Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev - 1991, 1992
- Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy - 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
Ice Dance:
- Jean Westwood and Lawrence Demmy - 1954, 1955
- June Markham and Courtney Jones - 1957, 1958
- Doreen Denny and Courtney Jones - 1959, 1960, 1961
- Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean - 1981, 1982, 1984, 1994
- Liudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov - 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976
- Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov - 1979, 1980
- Pasha Grishuk and Evgeni Platov - 1996, 1997, 1998
- Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin - 2008, 2010
