7 Surprising Secrets About Figure Skating, Speed Skating, and the World Figure Skating Championships
1. Love on skates
Skates are definitely not a new invention. Skating is considered one of the oldest human activities, as ancient archaeological finds of bone skates testify. However, back then, it wasn’t about enjoyment; it was a means to move quickly while hunting. The oldest metal skates are believed to originate from the early common era and were discovered in Hungary near Balaton. Over time, especially during the Middle Ages, skating became popular mainly in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. When Emperor Rudolf II held a major ice carnival in 1610, it helped popularize this winter pastime. Notably, the famous seducers Casanova and Napoleon Bonaparte allegedly skated together, and it’s said they fell in love while on the ice. Queen Victoria of England also skated with her future husband, Prince Albert.
2. First World Figure Skating Championships
Great Britain is considered the birthplace of figure skating, where in the 18th century the first handbook on figure skating was published. In 1774, the first skating club was established in Edinburgh. Membership required bravery and skill; only those who could complete certain maneuvers, including jumps over stacked hats, could join. The first figure skating competition took place in 1814. From England, figure skating spread across Europe and to America, where music, dance, and ballet elements were incorporated into the sport.
However, skating wasn’t just a Western European and American pastime; it also grew in popularity in Russia. Throughout the 20th century, Russia became a major figure skating powerhouse. Skating on vast frozen rivers and lakes was also a favored winter activity, and figures like Tsar Peter the Great participated. In 1838, a book titled “Winter Fun and the Art of Figure Skating” was published in St. Petersburg, where the first World Figure Skating Championships were held in 1896.
3. Figure skating in the Czech lands
Figure skating appeared in the Czech lands with organized ice skating in the latter half of the 19th century. Prominent athlete and enthusiastic organizer of numerous sports events, Josef Rössler-Ořovský (1869-1933), was a key figure in this development. Despite its growth, Czechoslovak figure skating lacked a unique identity until after World War II. A turning point occurred with the opening of the first artificial ice rink in 1931, located at Štvanice.
4. Lutz, Salchow, Axel, and Rittberger: The Importance of Jumps
If you’re fond of figure skating, you likely recognize technical terms like Lutz, Axel, Rittberger, and Salchow. These are names of jumps that honor the pioneers of figure skating. These jumps are still performed today to celebrate those who first introduced them. The Axel jump, for example, made its debut at the first international figure skating competitions in 1882 in Vienna, performed by the Norwegian speed skater and figure skater Axel Paulsen (1855-1938). The Axel is still regarded as one of the must-see elements of skating today. The Rittberger jump, which is executed from the back of one skate to the opposite leg, is named after Werner Rittberger. The Lutz jump is named after Austrian figure skater Alois Lutz (1898-1918); he made the jump famous in 1913 but tragically passed away from tuberculosis at just nineteen. Another famous jump is the Salchow, named after Ulrich Salchow (1877-1949), the first Olympic figure skating champion, who won his title in 1908 in London. Salchow was a dominant athlete in the sport and became a ten-time world champion. After retiring, he served as a long-term chairman of the International Skating Union.
5. Different Figure Skating Disciplines
Figure Skating includes several disciplines, each with specific rules, required movements, and elements. The four main categories are individual skating for both men and women (which includes short and free ride programs), paired skating (short programs and free rides), and ice dancing. Together with synchronized skating, which is a newer discipline introduced at world championships starting in 1956, ice dancing has been part of the Winter Olympics since 1976, consisting of compulsory dances as well as original and free dance segments.
6. Prominent Names in Czech Figure Skating
After World War II, Czechoslovakia became a leading nation in figure skating. Aja Vrzáňová (1931-2015) was a two-time world champion in women’s figure skating, winning titles in 1949 and 1950. She was the four-time champion of Czechoslovakia from 1947 to 1950 and also the European champion in 1950. A key sports figure of the late 1960s was Hana Mašková (1949-1972), who earned a bronze medal in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble. The Roman siblings, Pavel (1943-1972) and Eva (*1946), were European and World champions in ice dancing. After their competitive careers, they performed in Holiday on Ice, although Pavel tragically lost his life in a car accident. Their popularity in the 1960s Czechoslovakia is reflected in the famous fruit canteen variety on Wenceslas Square in Prague, where a delicious combination of chocolate and vanilla banana with whipped cream was whimsically called Romance of the Roman siblings.
In 1992, at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, figure skater Petr Barna (*1966) brought home a bronze medal and made history as the first skater to perform a quadruple jump at the Olympics. Moreover, Tomas Verner (*1986), who became the 2008 European champion, along with the 90s duo of Kovaříková-Novotný and Beránková-Dlabola, gained recognition in the sport.
Let’s not forget Slovakia from the days of Czechoslovakia. One of the top skaters in the world during the late 50s and early 60s was Karol Divín (1936-2022), a two-time European champion and silver medalist at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. The pinnacle of Ondrej Nepela’s (1951-1989) career was winning the Olympic gold in Sapporo in 1972.
7. The Tragedy of the 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Team
A somber moment in figure skating history occurred on February 15, 1961, when a Boeing 707 from the Belgian airline Sabena tragically crashed. This flight, traveling from New York to Brussels, ended in disaster as all 73 passengers perished, including all members of the U.S. figure skating team who were en route to Prague for the World Championships. Out of respect for those who lost their lives, the International Skating Union canceled the championship. It took the USA many years to recover from this heart-wrenching tragedy and to re-enter the international figure skating arena.
Martina Sáblíková and Metoděj Jílek
We’ve previously discussed the history of ice and long-distance skating at Which Way from Boredom, but how about speed skating? Even though it has been quite a while since figure skating, in many respects, differs from speed skating except for the actual skates , both sports share a long history that spans thousands of years. Speed skating separated from traditional skating during the 19th century. While figure skating debuted at the Olympics as early as 1908, speed skating only made its first appearance eight years later, but that was interrupted by the First World War, resulting in the cancellation of the Berlin Olympics and delaying speed skating’s Olympic introduction until 1924 in Chamonix. Initially, this sport was exclusively male-driven. It wasn’t until the 1932 Winter Olympics that women’s speed skating was included as a demonstration event. Only in 1960 did women compete in their own disciplines. One of the challenges was similar to other fast-paced sports: timing, which was resolved with the introduction of electronic timing in the 1960s.
The most accomplished Czech speed skater is Martina Sáblíková. She first participated in the Winter Olympics in 2006 at the young age of eighteen but didn’t win any medals at that time. A few months later, Metoděj Jílek was born on June 11, 2006. At the recent European Junior Inline Skating Championships held in Valence, France, he secured two gold medals on the oval. Additionally, he won five junior world championship titles at the World Skate Games 2024. In preparation for the 2026 Winter Olympics, he recently broke the 3000m world record during a preparatory race in Salt Lake City. He officially set a new record of 3:32.52 minutes, surpassing the previous record by 4.76 seconds set by twenty-year-old Nora Eskila Ervika.
