Everything You May Want to Know About Olympic Figure Skating

Women's figure skating is the most popular figure skating event at the Winter Olympics. There are "queens and princesses of the ice" who have left their mark on the figure skating world. There are also many famous people who have been a part of ice skating history.

• Famous Women Olympic Figure Skaters
• Famous Men Olympic Figure Skaters
• Famous Olympic Pair Skaters
• Famous Olympic Ice Dancers
• Famous People in Figure Skating History
• An Illustrated History of Olympic Figure Skating
• A Step By Step Journey Through Ice Skating History

Do you want to get an idea of what's involved in becoming a figure skater? Before you begin to skate, there are things you should know.

• Ice Skating Is Fun!
• Step-by-Step Beginning Ice Skating Lesson
• Register for Ice Skating Lessons
• Learn to Figure Skate
• Dress Like a Figure Skater
• Buy Skates
• How to Lace Figure Skates
• Take Some Private Figure Skating Lessons
• Set a Practice, Lesson, and Training Schedule
• Join a Figure Skating Club
• Take Figure Skating Tests
• Compete in Figure Skating Competitions

Certain jumps are done by Olympic figure skaters...read more

• Understanding How Figure Skating Jumps Are Scored

Many of the spins Olympic figure skaters do are variations of basic ice skating spins.

Lifts are the highlight of Olympic pair skating.   Good lifts have a smooth take off, elegant positions, and gentle landings.

Every step or turn a figure skater does has a name. Can you identify the figure skating turns that are done on one foot? Next time you watch an elite ice skater do a step sequence, try to recognize at least one three turn, one bracket, one counter, and one rocker.

• One Foot Figure Skating Turns
• Figure Skating Footwork or Steps
• Why is the Ice Skating Turn "Mohawk" Named After an American Indian Tribe?
• Footwork Sequences for All Figure Skaters
• What Are Twizzles?
• What Are Loops?

A new kind of scoring replaced the old 6.0 figure skating judging system and was created in response to the 2002 Olympic figure skating scandal. The idea was to attempt to make figure skating competitions more objective and fair.

Competitors are given two scores: a technical score and a program component score. The technical score is added together to the program component score and the result is the segment score. The sum of all the segment scores (the short program and the free skate) becomes the total competition score. The skater with the highest score wins.

• How to Understand Figure Skating Scores
• Why Does a Triple Jump Get Scored Only As a Double?
• Why Do Figure Skaters Fall Down and Still Place High?

• Ladies singles
• Men's singles
• Pair skating
• Ice Dance
• Team Trophy Event

At the Olympic Games, at least two different phases of a competition take place. This means that Olympic figure skaters do more than one performance before a champion is crowned. The winner of the first phase of an Olympic event may win an Olympic title, but there is a chance that someone else can "pull up" and become the Olympic Figure Skating Champion. In the final phase of Olympic figure skating competition, the skaters who place in the top four after the initial phase, compete last, so the last part of an Olympic figure skating event is the most exciting to watch!

• 2014 Olympic Figure Skating Preview