An Olympic sport since London 1908, skating is a cross between a
sport and an art form. Originally it was considered a great way to get around the frozen
canals in Holland during the winter.
There are three disciplines to the sport in the Winter Olympics:
Figure Skating, Short Track Speed Skating and Speed Skating.
There are four Figure Skating events at the Winter Olympics:
womens singles, men's singles, pairs, and ice dancing.
Singles
The singles event consists of a short programme, and a free
skating.
The short programme combines eight prescribed elements such as jump
combinations and spins.
In the free skating programme, skaters perform to music of their
choice; with a balanced programme being inportant as judges deduct points if the programme
contains too many, or too few, jumps.
Pairs
The pairs event also consists of a short programme and free
skating.
Demonstrating harmony, strength and grace, the couple work as a single
unit; with the man performing overhead lifts, throw-jumps and other manoeuvres with his
partner.
Ice Dancing
Akin to ballroom dancing on ice, the focus here is on the complex
steps performed in time to the music; with the skaters maintaining contact with each other,
thus limiting the lifts and jumps.
The ice dancing event consists of three sections: compulsory,
original, and free dances.
In compulsory dancing, the couple perform one pre-determined dance.
Original dance follows selected rhythms, although the pair may choose
their own music and interpretative steps.
In free dancing, the pair are free to express their interpretation of
the music they have chosen.
Short track speed skating was introduced to the Winter Olympics in
Albertville 1992.
There are eight events, with skaters competing not against the clock,
but against each other; trying to outskate and outwit the fellow competitors within their
heats.
Individual competitions begin with 32 athletes; with four skaters
compete in a race at a time. Those placed first and second advance to the next round; as
the field is narrowed down to a handful of finalists.
The short track relays are two-day competitions consisting of a
semi-final and a final. Eight teams are divided into two heats of four, with the top two
teams in each semi-final advancing to the final.
| Men |
Women |
500m
1,000m
1,500m5,000m relay |
500m
1,000m
1,500m3,000m relay |
Speed Skating was a part of the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix 1924.
All speed skating events are skated once, except forf the men's and
women's 500 metres, which are skated twice; with the final result based on the total time
of the two races.
In each event skaters race in pairs, against the clock, on a standard
400m oval.
| Men |
Women |
500m
1,000m
1,500m
5,000m
10,000mTeam pursuit |
500m
1,000m
1,500m
3,000m
5,000mTeam pursuit |
Team Pursuit
Team pursuit was added to the Turin
2006 Winter Games.
The competition consists of elimination rounds, leading to a final
race.
Two teams of three athletes begin, simultaneously, on each side of the
track; with team members taking it in turns to lead, while the rest follow closely behind
in their slipstream.
The team finishes the race when the last team member crosses the
finish line.
Speed skater Lidiya
Skoblikova is the only woman to win six gold medals in individual events at the Winter
Olympics: the 1,500m and 3,000m at Squaw Valley 1960;
followed by the 500m, 1,000m, 1,500m, and the 3,000m at Innsbruck
1964 - becoming the first person to win four gold medals in a single Winter Olympics
in the process.
Irina Rodnina
(ten times world champion) won three gold medals in pairs skating: with Aleksey Ulanov at Sapporo 1972; and with Aleksandr Zaytsev at Innsbruck 1976 and Lake
Placid 1980.
     
International Skating Union:
The official skating website of the ISU has a large collection of skater biographies,
historical records, past results and calendar of skating events around the world -- with
links to tournament websites, where applicable.
Ice
Skating.
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