World championships (worlds)

Worlds are held annually, hosted by ISU member countries throughout the world. The number of skaters sent by each nation is based on the team’s performance from the previous year. A country’s final placements (in men’s, women’s, pairs, or dance) must total 11 or less in order for it to send three skaters in that discipline the next year. Otherwise, the country will be able to send one or two skaters. Not all countries automatically qualify to send even one skater, however, but skaters who would like to qualify may enter particular fall competitions that allow them to attend the world championships for that year if they place in the top six. In 1999 the ISU introduced a scoring change at worlds by instituting a qualifying round for the men’s and women’s singles events. Each skater performs a long program first. The top 30 advance to the second round—the short program—and then the final 24 compete another long program in the final round. However, all three performances count toward the final result. The first phase counts for 20 percent, the second phase (short program) 30 percent, and the final phase (free skate) 50 percent. Each team accumulates points in each discipline on the basis of order of finish. The points gained for each discipline determine how many skaters from that discipline the country is permitted to send the following year.

Junior worlds are held each year for the top junior- and certain senior-level skaters from ISU members countries. These skaters have not yet competed at the world championships and must be under 19 (for singles) or 21 (dance and pairs).

Grand Prix and Junior Grand Prix

Since the early 1990s the ISU has sponsored yearly Grand Prix and Junior Grand Prix events for the world’s top skaters. The Grand Prix consists of six events: Skate America, Skate Canada, Sparkassen Cup on Ice, Trophée Lalique, Cup of Russia, and NHK Trophy. Each event includes no more than 12 (singles events) or 10 (pairs events) entrants. Skaters who finished in the top six positions at the previous world championships are seeded at each event, and other top-level skaters from ISU member countries are also invited. Skaters earn money and points for each event they enter. Each of these skaters must enter at least two but no more than three events. Those placing in the top six from all the events will enter the Grand Prix Final, where each skater receives prize money based on final placement.

The Junior Grand Prix series gives international competition experience to promising future world-level skaters. Skaters are invited to participate by their home countries, and they must be under 19 (singles skaters) or 21 (pairs and dance) years of age when they enter. There are a total of eight events, but each skater may enter only two of them. Prize money and points are awarded for each placement, and a final event is held for the eight skaters who have accumulated the most points. Skaters who enter the Junior Grand Prix events may not enter Grand Prix events unless they participate in a different event—e.g., a singles skater who enters a pairs event at the senior level.

European and Four Continents championships

The European championships have been held since 1891 and are open to all countries in Europe. In 1948 no such restriction was stated, and two North Americans, American Dick Button and Canadian Barbara Ann Scott, both entered and won the competition as singles skaters. In Olympic years the Olympic team for those countries participating in the competition is chosen after the European championships have been completed. The Four Continents Championship was established in 1999, and participants include Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong/China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, North Korea, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, and Uzbekistan. The Olympic team for these countries is chosen at national competitions, however.

Olympics

Held every four years, the Olympic Games are the most prestigious championship in figure skating. The top singles, pairs, and dance teams in the world compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals in their respective disciplines. Skaters must be 15 years of age by July 1 of the previous year to be eligible for the Olympics. The number of skaters sent by each country varies on the basis of how well its skaters performed in each discipline at the world championships the previous year. Men’s, women’s, and pairs events have been held at the Olympics since 1908, but ice dancing has been an Olympic sport only since 1976. In 2011 a team event—consisting of individual female and male skaters, a skating pair, and an ice dancing couple—was added to the schedule for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.