History of the development of women's figure skating in the USSR. Comments and suggestions. Appearance in the USA and Canada
Initially, people used skates similar to skis, only to move not on snow, but on ice. However, over time, those who lived next to ponds that froze in winter began to use them not only for driving on slippery surfaces, but also for performing beautiful elements. Skating from a form of leisure gradually acquired the character of competitions.
First, they competed in their ability to draw a beautiful mark on the ice with a blade and draw figures. The impetus for development was the discovery of new ways to perform movements that made it possible to improve and complicate this art.
In 1871, the skating union recognized figure skating as a sport. Gradually it became more and more difficult. The ability to accurately draw the stated pattern no longer reflected the degree of skill of professional figure skaters. New elements appeared, the judging system changed. Thus, technical skill and artistry began to be assessed separately.
Today this sport looks like solo, pair or group performance of elements to music in accordance with certain requirements. It relates to complex coordination activities, such as gymnastics, and requires good general physical preparation. During exercises, skaters experience heavy loads, especially on their legs and spine. At the same time, the sport is one of the most aesthetic. Leading athletes are part of the national team and train in Olympic centers.
Key rules of modern figure skating:
- in each event, athletes perform a short and free program;
- the duration of the speech is regulated and cannot be more or less than the established one;
- there are limitations on simplicity and complexity. Thus, sports pairs cannot include elements of 4 revolutions in their short program. Singles skaters in the short program cannot perform jumps of less than 3 revolutions outside, with the exception of the double axel;
- there is a list of elements that the athlete must perform: a certain number of jumps, cascades, lifts, rotations, etc. The sequence can be any;
- the requirement to perform elements in a certain way: for example, during support for sports couples, the partner’s arm must be fully straightened, otherwise the element will not be counted;
- age limit: skaters under 15 years old cannot participate in adult competitions. The origin of this requirement is related to the ability of young girls to perform technically difficult jumps with an insufficient level of expressiveness and skating maturity.
The rules also specify the criteria by which elements are evaluated. Based on them, levels are determined, bonuses and fines are counted - for falls, poor performance, and even finishing the performance after the music. A detailed description of these criteria allows you to calculate in advance the approximate cost of the program.
Every year, adjustments are made to the rules. Their goal is to provide the most objective assessment of the skaters’ performance and to make the programs balanced in beauty and complexity. Decisions are made at ISU meetings. Based on this information, programs are set.
Basic elements of figure skating
When setting up a program, the skater must include all the required elements. Their number is clearly regulated; the judges evaluate the purity and quality of performance. Increasing competition forces leaders and their coaches to constantly come up with new ways to execute and complicate programs.
Steps
Steps are all types of pushes, arcs, hooks and other movements due to which the athlete moves around the court. They help you dial in before entering a jump, connect elements with each other, or are an independent part of the program (step sequence, twizzles). It is the steps that are the basic element from which beginners learn the basics of figure skating.
Spirals
Spiral is an element of women's and pair skating, during which the athlete rides on one leg, while the other is raised up. It only counts if the knee and foot are above hip level. Previously, a combination of spirals was a mandatory part of the program for women, but now they are not evaluated separately and have become an integral part of the choreographic track.
Rotations
Rotations on one leg around its axis are called rotations. Body position, alignment (the athlete should not move from the starting point of rotation), number of revolutions and speed are assessed. According to the rules, during a rotation, an athlete must change position or leg at least once without stopping the movement. Due to physiological differences, there are rotations that are performed mainly by girls, for example. Sports couples and dancers have their own types of rotation: parallel and joint.
Jumping
During a jump, the athlete pushes off the ice with both feet. In order for an element to receive a rating, it is necessary to make several revolutions around itself. Jumps are divided into edge (,) and tooth (, flip). A sequence of two or three jumps in a row is called a cascade. This element is very traumatic and requires the athlete to be well prepared to perform successfully.
When evaluating an element, the approach, body position in the air, landing and exit are taken into account. In pair skating, synchronization is an important requirement. Jumping is prohibited in dancing.
Some jumps are not scored, but serve as links between elements or part of a choreographic track: oiler, jump, split jump.
Figure skating clothing and equipment
According to the rules, the skater's costume must reflect the character of the music. In addition, clothing is subject to utilitarian requirements: it must be comfortable, durable and not restrict movement. All decorative elements must be securely fastened - falling small glitter onto the ice can result in injury and is punishable by deduction of a point.
The main attribute of a skater is . Top athletes often have them made to order, based on a cast of the leg.
Ice Arena
Training and competitions take place on indoor skating rinks. The base is filled with artificial ice. This requires maintaining a certain surface temperature. There is no uniform regulation on the size of the site, but its corners must be rounded. North American skating rinks are traditionally smaller than European and Asian ones. The Olympic skating rink must be 60*30 m.
Judging
The modern judging system appeared at the beginning of the 21st century. Its origin is connected with the refereeing scandal at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. Suspicion of the arbitrator's bias led to the awarding of a second set of gold medals and a radical change in the scoring system. The new project was prepared very quickly, and four years later, at the Olympics in Turin, performances were evaluated using the updated system. Its main difference was the determination of the cost of each technical element. She also deciphers the components of performance that were previously referred to as “artistry.”
The performance is assessed by two teams of referees. The first gives points for the technical execution of mandatory elements. There are three people in this team, the decisive word is the technical controller. The judges determine the elements performed and evaluate their class. Since the 20018/2019 season, base scores can vary from plus five to minus five. This gives an advantage to those who execute the program more cleanly.
The second group of judges evaluates the aesthetic component and ownership. The score for the components consists of five criteria: quality of gliding, connections between elements, artistry, program setting and choreography. This rating shows how beautiful and harmonious the program looks as a whole.
The final result is determined by the sum of points for two programs.
Figure skating competition
The season for figure skaters begins in September (for juniors - in August) and continues until March.
The schedule is drawn up in such a way that athletes can be in peak shape for the main competitions. Category B tournaments open the season in September. The first major starts occur in mid-October, when the Grand Prix series begins. It consists of 6 stages, takes place once a week in 6 countries. There are 12 singles, 8 sports and 10 dance pairs entered. Each participant can choose no more than 2 stages, places are provided according to the ISU ranking. In parallel with the Grand Prix stages, category B tournaments continue.
Places taken bring athletes a certain number of points: 15 for 1st place, 13 for 2nd place, etc. The leaders with the most points receive the right to compete at the Grand Prix Final. In total, 6 representatives in each category receive this honor. The final takes place 2 weeks after the end of the last stage.
After foreign competitions, it is time for national championships. In many countries, these stages are the main criterion for selection for the main competitions of the second half of the season - continental championships and the World Championships. Only the undisputed leaders can be released from the obligation to participate in them; the rest of the athletes will have to prove their right to represent the country.
In January comes the turn of continental championships: the European Championship and the Four Continents Championship. The latter involves skaters from America, Asia, Africa and Australia. The maximum quota from one country is 3 participants. It is distributed in accordance with the places occupied by the skaters at the previous competition. For maximum representation, it is necessary that the sum of the places occupied by the two best participants does not exceed the number 13 (for example, 3rd place and 10th, 5th and 8th, etc.).
The season ends with the World Championships, which take place in March. In some years, the Olympic Games or Universiade are held between the continental and world championships. Once every 2 years, after the end of the individual tournament, the World Team Championship is held.
Some interesting and entertaining facts about figure skating:
- Olympic figure skating competitions were held for the first time during the 1908 Summer Olympics. The champion was an athlete from the Russian Empire, Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin.
- Sometimes countries that have received the right to send two representatives to continental championships or the World Championship are limited to one. This is due to the low level of development of sports in the country. To qualify for the main competitions, you must first obtain a technical minimum at other competitions, but not everyone can cope with this.
- Ice dancing is the only sport where there is a “ceiling” of points scored. Singles and couples can theoretically increase their scores indefinitely by making the content more difficult.
- Olympic champion and four-time world champion Alexei Yagudin has never won a national championship.
- Typically, future stars begin training at an early age of 4-5 years on the initiative of their parents. However, there are exceptions. Popular American figure skater Johnny Weir came to the skating rink only at 11, having seen the performance of Olympic champion Oksana Baiul on TV.
- Despite the fact that the complexity of performances at international competitions exceeds what spectators see at commercial tournaments and shows, it is the participants of the latter who are called professionals. Competitive sport is called amateur.
Figure skating-- a winter sport in which athletes skate on ice while performing additional elements, most often accompanied by music. In official competitions, as a rule, four sets of medals are played out: in women's single skating, in men's single skating, in pair skating, and in ice dancing. Figure skating is included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games.
At first
The most ancient skates were discovered on the banks of the Southern Bug, near Odessa, dating back to the Bronze Age. These skates were made from the phalanx of the front legs of horses.
It is believed that the birthplace of figure skating is Holland. It was there, in the 13th - 14th centuries, that the first iron skates appeared. The appearance of a new type of skates gave a powerful impetus to the development of figure skating, which at that time consisted of the ability to draw intricate figures on the ice and at the same time maintain a beautiful pose.
All mandatory figures were created in Great Britain. This is explained by the fact that it was here that the first skating clubs arose (Edinburgh, 1742). At the same time, the first official rules of the competition were developed.
In 1882, the first international competition in Europe took place in Vienna. The Viennese won a convincing victory.
The very first edition of the rules for figure skating, published in England, dates back to 1772. The English artillery lieutenant Robert Jones published a “Treatise on Skating”, in which he described all the main figures that were then known.
Appearance of elements
At the beginning of the 20th century, Salchow, Lutz, Rittberger, Axel Paulsen invented their elements, and skaters, in gratitude for this, left their names in the names of the elements.
Women's single skating was formed later. Officially, this happened at the end of January 1906 in Davos (Switzerland). The compulsory figures for women and men were similar, but the women's free skating immediately attracted attention with its high artistry, plasticity and musicality of movements.
Official women's world championships began in 1924. Since 1930, the World Figure Skating Championships for women and men have been held jointly on the same dates. Soon pair (mixed) skating also appeared. The international pair skating championship was first played in 1908 in St. Petersburg, and the winners were German skaters. The fourth type of figure skating - ice dancing - was born much later in England. Only in 1952 in Paris did the dancers compete for their awards for the first time; the British were the strongest.
Synchronized skating competitions have gained the most popularity in recent years. This sport has become widespread in Canada, the USA, Sweden, Finland, England, and France.
Since 1983, annual synchronized skating championships began to be held in Canada. And in 1988, these competitions were held jointly with competitions in the main types of figure skating. Pair skating competitions first took place in Canada in 1914 and were held regularly until 1964, resuming in 1981. The leaders in this type of figure skating are Canadian and American teams.
First time at the Olympics
The popularity of figure skating grew, and already in 1908, figure skating competitions were first included in the program of the Olympic Games in London.
The first Olympic champions in single skating in 1908 were M. Sayers (Great Britain), U. Salchow (Sweden), Panin-Kolomenkin (Russia) and the sports pair A. Hübler - G. Burger (Germany). Figure skating was also included in the program of the Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp (1920), and subsequently it was presented at all Winter Olympic Games.
Gillis Grafström (Sweden), who won 3 gold and 1 silver medal, and three-time Olympic champions Sonya Henie (Norway) and Irina Rodnina (USSR) achieved outstanding success in Olympic competitions. At the White Olympics in St. Moritz (1948), American figure skater Dick Button literally created a revolution. It was from him that jumps of several revolutions and other acrobatic elements were “registered” in figure skating. Button literally flew over the skating rink. His reward was an Olympic gold medal in single skating.
The Olympic championship was played in singles (men's and women's) and pair skating. In 1976, ice dancing was included in the Olympic program.
Figure skating in pre-revolutionary Russia
Figure skating in Russia has been known since the time of Peter I. The Russian Tsar brought the first samples of skates from Europe. It was Peter I who came up with a new way of attaching skates - directly to boots and thus created a “protomodel” of today’s equipment for skaters. The name "skates" arose because the front of the wooden "runners" was usually decorated with a horse's head.
In 1838, the first textbook for figure skaters, “Winter Fun and the Art of Skating,” was published in St. Petersburg. Its author was G.M. Pauli is a gymnastics teacher at military educational institutions in St. Petersburg.
A surge of interest in figure skating occurred after the European tour of American figure skater Jackson Gaines. He showed unexpected possibilities for performing swift figures in the most graceful body movements.
Russian figure skating, as a separate sport, originated in 1865. Then a public skating rink was opened in the Yusupov Garden on Sadovaya Street. This skating rink was the most comfortable in Russia and from the very first days it became a center for training figure skaters. On March 5, 1878, the first competition of Russian figure skaters took place there.
In 1881, the Skating Society included about 30 people. One of the most famous sports and public figures was the Honorary Member of this society, Vecheslav Izmailovich Sreznevsky.
In 1908, at the London Olympics, the outstanding Russian singles skater Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin won the gold medal.
Similar finds are found in many European countries, and the most ancient “skates” were discovered on the banks of the Southern Bug near Odessa.
ancient skates found in northern Europe
bone skates of the peoples of the North
However, the birth of figure skating as a sport is associated with the moment when skates began to be made of iron rather than bone.
According to research, this first happened in Holland, in the 12th-14th centuries. Initially, figure skating was a competition in the skill of drawing various figures on the ice, while maintaining a beautiful pose.
The first figure skating clubs appeared in the 18th century in the British Empire in Edinburgh (1742). It was there that a list of figures required to be performed in competitions was developed, as well as the first official competition rules.
From Europe, figure skating came to the USA and Canada, where it developed enormously. Numerous figure skating clubs were created here, new models of skates were developed, and their own school of technology was created. American figure skater Jackson Gaines played a major role in the development of figure skating in Europe and, in particular, in Russia.
His tours of European skating rinks aroused the admiration of fans of this sport. Historians unanimously recognize him as the founder of the modern international style of figure skating.
100 years later (since 1742), almost all modern compulsory figures and the basic technical techniques for their execution were already known in figure skating, as evidenced by the books “The Art of Skating” by D. Anderson, president of the Glasgow Skating Club, and the work H. Vanderwel and T. Maxwell Whitman of London. These books contain descriptions of all the eights, threes, hooks and other elements that form the basis of modern figure skating.
At the First Skating Congress in 1871, figure skating was recognized as a sport.
Figure skating in Russia has been known since the time of Peter I. The Russian Tsar brought the first samples of skates from Europe. It was Peter I who came up with a new way of attaching skates - directly to boots - and thus created a “protomodel” of today’s equipment for skaters.
In 1838, the first textbook for figure skaters, “Winter Fun and the Art of Skating,” was published in St. Petersburg. Its author was G. M. Pauli, a gymnastics teacher at military educational institutions in St. Petersburg.
In 1882, the first official figure skating competition in Europe took place in Vienna. True, initially, as A. N. Mishin notes, “these were a kind of behind-the-scenes competition,” since only a few athletes took part in them.
But the approach to competitions changed after the best skaters from all over the world were invited to St. Petersburg in 1890 for competitions dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the skating rink in the Yusupov Garden. The following people came to St. Petersburg: US champion L. Rubenstein, German champion F. Kaiser, the best skaters from Austria, Finland, England, Holland, Sweden, Norway. The competition acquired the status of an “unofficial world championship”; the winner of these competitions in all types of the program was an honorary member of the “St. Petersburg Society of Skating Amateurs” Alexey Pavlovich Lebedev.
The following year, in 1891, the first European Championships in men's single skating took place in Hamburg (German figure skater Oskar Uhlig won).
But the demonstration of the international scope and potential of figure skating, shown at the competitions in St. Petersburg, did not give rest. Therefore, already in 1892, the International Skating Union (ISU) was created, which was supposed to lead the organization of international competitions.
Four years later, in 1896, the first World Figure Skating Championships took place in St. Petersburg (winner: Gilbert Fuchs, German Empire). In 1903, in honor of the 200th anniversary of St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg Skating Society was granted the right to host the 8th World Championship (1st place - Swede Ulrich Salchow, 2nd - Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin).
He was the first Russian champion to win this title in 1897-1900. The unique athlete also won international competitions. But he began his career as a figure skater in39 years!
February 9, 1896 The first World Figure Skating Championships took place in St. Petersburg. He became a kind of stimulus in the development of educational work at the Yusupov Garden skating rink. It was continued by N.A. Panin - Kolomenkin, a student of A.P. Lebedev. He participated in the first Russian figure skating championships and won the title of Russian champion in 1901-1903.
At the 1908 Olympic Games. in London becomes Russia's first Olympic champion.
The skaters themselves drew complex patterns for themselves, and then transferred them to the ice with the help of skates. The figures proposed to the panel of judges of the Olympic Games by N. Panin-Kolomenkin were so original, beautiful and complex that they were considered absolutely impossible. And when the Russian figure skater finally drew them, he received a well-deserved rewardgold medal - the first in the history of domestic sports in general!
N.A. Panin - Kolomenkin, the first Olympic champion of Russia in figure skating 1908
N.A. Panin-Kolomenkin and his students immediately after the revolution began to create sections for figure skating. In 1920 The first competitions were organized at the skating rink of the Semyonovsky Parade Ground hippodrome. From the mid-20s. Championships in Moscow and Leningrad began to be held regularly. In March 1924 The USSR championship took place. The program included competitions for men's singles and pairs. The performances took place to the accompaniment of a brass band; in severe frosts, the pipes froze and fell silent; only the drum sounded, to the sound of which the performances took place. The national championships in those years were not held regularly; they became permanent after 1936. a section (later a federation) of figure skating was created.
Raisa and Alexander Gandelsman, champions of the USSR 1937,1939
Immediately after the war, figure skating schools began to open in Moscow, Leningrad, and Sverdlovsk. In 1955 The first post-war international figure skating competitions took place in Moscow, in which representatives of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the GDR, Poland and the USSR took part. A year later, the strongest skaters of the USSR took part in the European Championships, which took place in Paris, for the first time since the war. The following year, the anniversary European Championship was held in Czechoslovakia. The Soviet team took part in all types of figure skating for the first time.
Historians look very far into the past to find the origins of figure skating. The most ancient skates were discovered on the banks of the Southern Bug, near Odessa, dating back to the Bronze Age. Such skates were apparently made from the phalanx of the front legs of horses. Similar bone skates were found during archaeological excavations in many European countries. Of course, owners of bone skates could not lay the foundations for the future of figure skating. For this, completely different skates had to appear - made of iron.
It is believed that the birthplace of figure skating is Holland.. Exactly there, in the 13th - 14th centuries the first iron skates appeared. The appearance of a new type of skates gave a powerful impetus to the development of figure skating, which at that time consisted of the ability to draw intricate figures on the ice and at the same time maintain a beautiful pose.
The most The first edition of the rules for figure skating, published in England, dates back to 1772. English artillery lieutenant Robert Jones published A Treatise on Skating, in which he described all the main figures that were then known. The fact that all the compulsory figures were created in Great Britain is explained by the fact that it was here that the first speed skating clubs arose (Edinburgh, 1742) and the first official rules of the competition were developed.
And in 1882 The first international competition in Europe took place in Vienna. The Viennese won a great victory.
Representatives of the Austrian school, figure skaters from Norway, Sweden, Germany, England and the USA contributed to the development of figure skating as a sport.
A figure skater from America played a big role in the development of figure skating in Europe and, in particular, in Russia Jackson Gaintz. His tours of European skating rinks aroused the admiration of fans of this sport. Historians unanimously recognize him as the founder of the modern international style of figure skating. In February 1890 In honor of the 25th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Yusupov skating rink, it was decided to organize a sports competition, inviting the strongest skaters from Europe and America.
In terms of its composition, this was actually the first unofficial world championship. Of the 8 participants who competed for 3 days for the title of the best figure skater in the world, the strongest in all sections of skating was A.P. Lebedev is a wonderful Russian athlete.
The successful completion of the competition in St. Petersburg greatly accelerated the organization of the first European and world championships and the creation of the International Skating Union (ISU) in 1892. At the same time, at the ISU Congress, the rules for holding international competitions were approved, and the procedure for the European Championship was determined.
The ISU approved the rules for holding international competitions and determined the procedure for the European Championship.
In 1896 ISU decided to hold world championships. In honor of recognition of the special merits of Russia as the venue Petersburg was chosen as the first official world championship. Only 4 participants took to the ice: silver medalist of the European Championships, Austrian G. Hugel, bronze medalist of the European Championships, German G. Fuchs, and Russian figure skaters G. Sanders and N. Poduskov. The winner was the figure skater from Munich G. Fuchs.
This is how men's single skating took shape as a sport, approved at the first speed skating congress in America, and then in Europe by the Vienna Skating Society (1871).
At the beginning of the century Salchow, Lutz, Rittberger, Axel Paulsen invented their own jumps, and the skaters, in gratitude for this, left their names in the names of the elements.
Women's single skating was formed later. Officially this happened at the end of January 1906. in Davos (Switzerland). The compulsory exercises for women and men were similar, but the women's free skating immediately attracted attention due to the high artistry, plasticity and musicality of the movements. Official women's world championships began in 1924. Since 1930 The World Figure Skating Championships for women and men are held jointly on the same dates.
Soon pair (mixed) skating also appeared. The international championship in pair skating was first played in 1908. in St. Petersburg. German figure skaters went down in history as the first owners of gold medals in pairs skating.
The third type of figure skating - ice dancing - was born much later in England. Only in 1952 In Paris, the dancers competed for their awards for the first time; the English were the strongest.
Synchronized skating competitions have gained the most popularity in recent years. This sport has become widespread in Canada, the USA, Sweden, Finland, England, and France. Since 1983 In Canada, the annual Canadian Synchronized Skating Championships began to be held. And in 1988 these competitions were held in conjunction with competitions in the main types of figure skating. Fours competitions, where pair skating representatives perform, also attract a significant number of spectators. In Canada, such performances took place for the first time in 1914. and were held regularly until 1964, and they resumed in 1981. At the ISU Congress 1991 The issue of holding international competitions under the auspices of the ISU began to be considered. The following year a positive decision was made. Currently, the leaders in this type of figure skating are Canadian and American teams.
We can say that single skating is the basis of various types of figure skating.
At first, only a few athletes attended world tournaments. But the popularity of figure skating grew, and already in 1908. For the first time, figure skating competitions were included in the program of the 1st Summer Olympic Games held in London. Even then, Olympians competed on artificial ice. By the way, the first artificial ice skating rink was built in England in 1876. designed by D. Pictet.
The first Olympic champions in single skating in 1908. became M. Sayers (Great Britain), U. Salchow (Sweden), P. Kolomenkin (Russia) and the sports pair A. Hübler - G. Burger (Germany).
Figure skating was included in the program of the 1920 Summer Olympic Games, and subsequently it was presented at all Winter Olympic Games. The Olympic championship was played in singles (men's and women's) and pair skating. In 1976 Ice dancing was included in the Olympic program. The first figure skating competitions were held with the advantage of Scandinavian and English athletes, later figure skaters from Austria and the USA began to perform successfully. In pair skating and sports dancing, the Russian school is a leader in the international arena.
Gillis Grafström (Sweden), who won 3 gold and 1 silver medal, and three-time Olympic champions Sonja Henie (Norway) and Irina Rodnina (Russia) achieved outstanding success in Olympic competitions.
Figure skating in Russia has been popular since the times Peter I. The Russian Tsar brought home the first samples of skates to Europe. It was Peter who came up with a new way of attaching skates - directly to boots, and thus created the prototype of today's equipment for skaters. The name "skates" probably arose because the front of the wooden "runners" was usually decorated with a horse's head. In 1938 The first textbook for figure skaters, “Winter Fun and the Art of Skating,” was published in St. Petersburg. Its author was G.M. Pauli is a gymnastics teacher at military educational institutions in St. Petersburg. A surge of interest in figure skating occurred after the European tour of American figure skater Jackson Gaines. He showed unexpected possibilities for performing the most rapid figures in the most graceful body movements.
Russian skating itself originated in 1865. Then a public skating rink was opened in Yusupov Garden on Sadovaya Street, which from the very first days became a center for training figure skaters. The skating rink was the most comfortable in Russia. It shows March 5, 1978. The first competition of Russian figure skaters took place. The “Society of Skating Lovers,” organized in St. Petersburg in 1881, included about 30 people. One of the most famous sports and public figures was the Honorary Member of this society, Vyacheslav Izmailovich Sreznevsky. A good athlete himself (he performed and was among the judges at international competitions), he did a lot to improve technique and build the theory of figure skating.
An honorary member and prominent figure of the St. Petersburg “Society of Skating Lovers” was Alexey Pavlovich Lebedev, who in our country is called the “grandfather of Russian figure skating.” It was he who became the first champion of the unofficial world championship, held in St. Petersburg in 1890. Despite the fact that he learned the skill from books, he amazed the judges and spectators with his sliding technique in all three numbers of the program. Lebedev was awarded three gold medals. Since 1896 he began to engage in pedagogical work and became the first coach and teacher of N.A. Kolomenkin.
Another idol of sports youth at the end of the last century is Alexander Nikitich Panshin. He was the first Russian champion to win this title in 1897-1900. The unique athlete also won international competitions. But he began his figure skating career at the age of 39! February 9, 1896 The first World Figure Skating Championships took place in St. Petersburg. He became a kind of stimulus in the development of educational work at the Yusupov Garden skating rink. It was continued by N.A. Panin - Kolomenkin. He participated in the first Russian figure skating championships and won the title of Russian champion in 1901-1903. At the 1908 Olympic Games. in London becomes Russia's first Olympic champion.
ON THE. Panin-Kolomenkin and his students immediately after the revolution began to create sections for figure skating. In 1920 The first competitions were organized at the skating rink of the Semyonovsky Parade Ground hippodrome. From the mid-20s. Championships in Moscow and Leningrad began to be held regularly. In March 1924 The USSR championship took place. The program included competitions for men's singles and pairs. The performances took place to the accompaniment of a brass band; in severe frosts, the pipes froze and fell silent; only the drum sounded, to the sound of which the performances took place. The national championships in those years were not held regularly; they became permanent after 1936. a section (later a federation) of figure skating was created.
Immediately after the war, figure skating schools began to open in Moscow, Leningrad, and Sverdlovsk. In 1955 The first post-war international figure skating competitions took place in Moscow, in which representatives of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the GDR, Poland and the USSR took part. A year later, the strongest skaters of the USSR took part in the European Championships, which took place in Paris, for the first time since the war. The following year, the anniversary European Championship was held in Czechoslovakia. The Soviet team took part in all types of figure skating for the first time.
Currently, we can say that our figure skating school is leading in the international arena. Proof of this is the unconditional victory of Russian figure skaters at the European Championships and the 1999 World Championships. At the World Championships in Helsinki (1999), representatives of our country won all the gold medals. Of the twelve prizes, half went to Russia.
Modern figure skating includes four independent types: single skating (men's and women's), pair skating, ice dancing and synchronized skating. Despite the fact that they all have much in common, and are primarily united by figure skating to music on a standard-sized ice rink, each type is unique. It is no coincidence that competitions are held in each of its types separately from each other. And the rules of the competition are drawn up by the International Skating Union for each type of figure skating separately.
Single skating is divided into:
1) compulsory program,
2) short program,
3) free skating.
Compulsory figures are called “school”, this emphasizes that they are the ABC of skating. Now in single skating there is a tendency to increase the role and importance of free skating, where the fullest development of a skater’s capabilities occurs.
Soviet singles skaters had to catch up with their foreign rivals. In the 50-60s. In the USA, Canada, France, Austria, Germany, Czechoslovakia, a brilliant galaxy of singles skating masters has grown up. For many years, our positions at all international forums in single skating left much to be desired.
And the pioneer in men's single skating was S. Chetverukhin. It was he who managed to become the first among our singles skaters to become a silver medalist at the World, European and Olympic Games (Sapporo 1972). The next generation managed to win the highest awards. At the European Championships - 75. V. Kovalev managed to do this for the first time. A month later, S. Volkov took the lead at the World Championships. In 1977 and 1979 V. Kovalev became world champion. At the 1976 Olympic Games. he won silver, and a year later at the World Championships in Tokyo, Kovalev proved that he was the strongest in single skating.
By the end of the 70s. one of the talented athletes I. Bobrin enters the sports arena. In 1981 he becomes the European champion for the first time. At the 1981 World Championships. in the USA, he honorably defended the title of the strongest skater in Europe, taking third place.
In 1988 The USSR champion and the 1985 world champion performed at the Olympic Games. A. Fadeev, who took fourth place, and singles player from Odessa V. Petrenko, who brought the Soviet team a bronze medal. The gold medal of V. Petrenko at the XYI Winter Olympic Games in Albertville in 1992 brought a great victory to the CIS team. For the first time in the history of domestic single skating (after Panin-Kolomenkin), a representative of our team climbed to the highest step of the podium. In 1994 A. Urmanov brought the second Olympic gold medal to the Russian team at the XYII Games.
And in 1998 In men's figure skating, a new leader appeared, I. Kulik, who won gold at the last Winter Olympic Games in Nagano.
A. Yagudin - winner of the World Championships in Helsinki in 1999. - is considered an outstanding Russian figure skater with great promise.
Figure skating is a type of speed skating, the basis of which is the athlete’s movements on the ice to music, on one or both legs, with changes in the direction of sliding, rotation, jumps, combinations of steps and figure patterns in single skating, and supports in pairs skating.
Figure skating, in contrast to free recreational skating, got its name due to the fact that the rules of competition for figure skaters provide for the execution of mandatory geometric figures on the ice - circles, paragraphs, eights, where the art of skating is demonstrated.
History of figure skating
The origins of speed skating lie in the distant past, and go back to the Bronze Age (late 4th - early 1st millennium BC), as evidenced by archaeological finds - bone skates made from the phalanges of the limbs of large animals. However, the birth of figure skating as a sport is associated with the moment when skates began to be made of iron rather than bone. According to research, this first happened in Holland, in the 12th-14th centuries. Initially, figure skating was a competition in the skill of drawing various figures on the ice, while maintaining a beautiful pose.
Figure skating in Russia has been known since the time of Peter I. The Russian Tsar brought the first samples of skates from Europe. It was Peter I who came up with a new way of attaching skates - directly to boots and thus created a “protomodel” of today’s equipment for skaters.
Figure skating as a separate sport was formed in the 60s of the 19th century and in 1871 it was recognized at the First Skating Congress. The first competitions took place in Vienna in 1882 among men's figure skaters.
In 1908 and 1920, figure skating competitions were held at the Summer Olympics. It should be noted that figure skating is the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic program. Since 1924, figure skating has always been included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games.
From 1986 to the present, official international figure skating competitions, such as the World Championships, European Championships, Four Continents Championships and others, have been held under the auspices of the International Skating Union (ISU, from the English International Skating Union, ISU).
There are 5 disciplines in figure skating: men's singles skating, women's singles skating, pairs figure skating, sports dances and group synchronized skating. Group synchronized skating is not yet included in the program of official competitions; a separate world championship in synchronized skating is held for this type of figure skating.
Types of figure skating
Men's and women's singles figure skating
A skater in single skating must demonstrate mastery of all groups of elements - steps, spirals, rotations, jumps. The higher the quality and complexity of the elements performed, the higher the level of the athlete. Important criteria are also: the connection of the athlete’s movements with the music, plasticity, aesthetics and artistry.
Competitions in single skating are held in 2 stages: the first stage is a short program, the second stage is a free program.
Pairs figure skating
The task of athletes in pair skating is to demonstrate mastery of the elements in such a way as to create the impression of unity of action.
In pair skating, along with traditional elements (steps, spirals, jumps), there are elements that are performed only in this type of figure skating: these are lifts, twists, throws, todes, joint and parallel rotations. An important criterion for paired athletes is the synchronization of the elements.
In pair skating, as well as in singles, competitions are held in two stages - short and free programs.
Dance Sport
In ice dancing, from a technical point of view, the main attention is paid to the joint execution of dance steps in standard and non-standard dance positions, and long separations of partners are not allowed. Unlike pair figure skating, sports dancing does not have jumps, throws and other distinctive elements of pair figure skating.
In sports dancing, an important component of success is the smoothness of movements and the attractive appearance of the couple, so much attention is paid to musical accompaniment and careful selection of costumes for each competition program. Thanks to this, sports dancing is one of the most spectacular areas in figure skating.
The modern program of official competitions includes 2 dances: a short dance and a free dance.
Synchronized figure skating
The synchronized skating team consists of 16 to 20 skaters. The team can include women and men. According to ISU rules, teams are divided into the following age groups: novices (corresponding to the first and second sports categories) - up to 15 years; juniors (candidates for master of sports) - 12-18 years old; seniors (masters of sports) - 14 years and older.
Neither the technique, nor the gliding, nor the execution of individual elements in synchronized skating differ from classical figure skating. But there is a certain specificity of skating in a team, which makes its own adjustments to the execution of elements. The goal is to perform as a team as a whole.
Synchronized skating has its own special mandatory elements, such as: circle, line, wheel, intersections, blocks. Prohibited movements: any lifts, jumps of more than 1 revolution, crossings, including backward spirals, etc.
Synchronized skating competitions consist of a short and free program.
Physiological features of this sport
Figure skating combines high dynamic and static power, gravitational and coordination loads, thereby providing a developing and training effect on all the main physiological systems and functions of the body, increasing its physical performance and resistance to stress.
Skaters are distinguished by their slender figure, harmoniously developed muscles, and beautiful posture. Thanks to a variety of exercises that require the spine, its flexibility and mobility increases, and in children with postural defects, correction of deformities is achieved.
The exclusive influence of figure skaters’ exercises on vestibular stability, the development of a finely differentiated sense of balance, and the reduction of susceptibility to angular accelerations that cause dizziness and disorientation in space.
