One of the most beautiful and difficult sports is figure skating. The Olympics are a particularly difficult and exciting test for an athlete. Many people like to watch the performances of figure skaters at But few people think that behind this wonderful fascinating spectacle is the hard and everyday work of athletes. How much pain, sweat, failures and tears you have to endure! And how hard the coveted gold is given. It is especially difficult for fragile girls performing in single skating.

A bit of history

How impressive women look - Olympic champions in this sport are known all over the world. But not everyone knows that women's single skating was born only in 1906. It was then that they began to hold single competitions for men and women. And in 1908 the women's single skating included in the Olympic program.

The first Olympic champions in figure skating

The first Olympic champion in women's singles in 1908 is the Englishwoman Meydzh Syers. She is truly an outstanding athlete. She began her performances as early as 1901, when women's singles were not allowed at all, so she participated in men's. Moreover, she became the world champion twice - in 1906 and 1907. Two years in a row, which not every athlete can do.

Further, in the period after the First World War, the most outstanding athlete was the Norwegian Sonya Henie, who won all the competitions and the Olympics from 1927 to 1936. It was she who was the first woman who managed to master a single axel. These outstanding representatives of the fair sex are the first Olympic champions in figure skating.

Post-war period in figure skating

During the Second World War, athletes from European countries did not have the opportunity to train. Only figure skaters from the USA and Canada continued their classes. Not surprisingly, the next figure skating champion was a Canadian citizen. At the games in 1948, Barbara Ann Scott receives Olympic gold. One of her achievements was the first in singles women's skating double lutz made by her in 1942.

The 1952 Olympic gold goes to Genette Alvegg of Great Britain. She was the world champion in 1951. At that time, artistry was less appreciated, and Genette's performances were always distinguished by a clear, perfect execution jumps and other mandatory elements. This set it apart from its main competitors. It is noteworthy that the gold of the Olympics again fell into the hands of an Englishwoman.

American stage in women's figure skating

At this stage, American women do not let gold out of their hands. On the Olympic Games 1956 Tenley Albright becomes the winner. The next Olympic champion in figure skating in 1960 is her compatriot Carol Heiss, who had previously been a silver medalist in the competition.

The Americans established their own recognizable style of skating, which was distinguished by flexibility, plasticity, clarity of movements, spectacular choreography, as well as high-quality and technical performance of the required elements. This style continued to show the next generation of American figure skaters. In 1968, Peggy Fleming became the Olympic champion, and in 1976, Dorothy Hamill received gold.

An athlete from Austria also contributed to figure skating. She was the outstanding Beatrice Shuba, who performed the compulsory figures with highest quality and was the only one who received a score above 5 points for technique. This brought her the coveted Olympic gold in 1972.

The triumph of German figure skaters

Olympic champions from Germany also made a significant contribution to the history of this sport. In the 80s, athletes from the GDR declared themselves. These were strong skaters who brought an innovative powerful sporty style. At the same time, the artistic abilities of these girls were at a fairly high level.

For 1980, gold goes to Anetta Petch. And after her, her compatriot Katarina Witt leads two Olympics - in 1984 and 1988. This athlete was distinguished by perfect performance technical elements and well-organized programs.

A new stage in women's figure skating

Olympic gold returns to American women again in 1992. It was brought to the country by Kristi Yamaguchi. She is known for winning the US Championships twice: in singles and in pairs figure skating.

A citizen of Ukraine becomes the Olympic champion in 1994. This figure skater impressed the audience and judges with her excellent technique of performing elements and a very emotional performance.

Once again, the Americans are on top. The 1998 Games bring gold to Tara Lipinski, who became the youngest Olympic champion in individual disciplines. Sarah Hughes wins in 2002, thanks to a record number of complex elements and jumps in the free program.

An American school in Turin figure skating comes in second place. Silver goes to American Sasha Cohen. And the first place is awarded to the Japanese Shizuke Arakawa. This is the first Japanese athlete in women's skating to become an Olympic champion.

The next outstanding figure skater is a girl from South Korea. Kim Young Ah received all the top titles, which no figure skater had been able to do before. She won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, won the Four Continents Championship, became the World Champion and was the leader of the Grand Prix Final.

Olympics in Sochi

An important stage in the history of figure skating is the Sochi Olympics. Figure skating acquires a valuable innovation. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, a team classification is held. Gold in it is received by figure skaters from Russia. The young figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya participates in this standings and becomes the youngest Olympic champion. But in the individual standings, Yulia was not lucky, and she becomes only the fifth.

The gold still goes to Russia. In the individual competition, the winner is Adelina Sotnikova - another young Russian woman who impressed everyone with her amazing performance in terms of technique, artistry and emotions. Olympic figure skating champions such as Adelina and Yulia receive the first gold medals for Russia in women's singles. Adelina Sotnikova becomes the first individual winner of the Games from Russia.

Today the whole world will know the name of the new Olympic champions in pair skating. Let's hope that Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov will become them, but we also wish our rivals to perform well and please us beautiful programs. Let's remember those who already bear the title of Olympic champions.
1908. London. The first Olympic champions are the representatives of Germany, Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger.

1920. Antwerp. And the first post-war Olympic champions are Ludovika and Walter Jacobsson from Finland. At the time of the victory, by the way, the partner was 36 years old, and the partner was 38 years old.

1924. Chamonix. The first Winter Olympics were won by Helen Engelmann and Alfred Berger of Austria, leaving behind the reigning Olympic champions in their forties.


1928. St. Moritz. At previous Olympics french couple André Joly and Pierre Brunet were bronze medalists, and these won gold. In many ways, modern figure skating owes this great couple. It was they who invented the mirror step sequence, and they were also very creative and came up with new lifts and spins.


1932. Lake Placid. At this Olympics, André Joly and Pierre Brunet became the first two-time Olympic champions in history.


1936. Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Joly and Brunet did not come to this Olympics in protest against the Nazi policies of Adolf Hitler. Germans Maxi Gerber and Ernst Bayer won the home Olympics. The partner at the time of the victory was a little over 15 years old. And if the legendary French did come to the Olympic Games, the German couple would still put up a worthy resistance to them. They are the world's first performers of parallel jumps.


1948. St. Moritz. The Belgians Micheline Lannoy and Pierre Bonnier won the only gold medal for their country in figure skating.


1952. Oslo. The victory in pair skating was again celebrated by the representatives of Germany - Ria and Paul Falk. By the way, they were the first in history to jump a double parallel jump.

1956. Cortina d'Ampezzo. Austrian figure skaters are very successful in single figure skating. At this Olympics, the time has come to finally repeat the success in pair skating. Elisabeth Schwartz and Kurt Oppelt won.

1960. Squaw Valley. At this Olympics, the representatives of the North American continent achieved the only time in pair skating. Canadians Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul won.


1964. Innsbruck. With this Olympics, a grandiose and invincible procession and the total superiority of the Soviet, and then Russian school figure skating. The first victory was won by Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov.


1968. Grenoble. This time, 2 Soviet couples already claimed gold, but Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov won again, and Tatyana Zhuk and Alexander Gorelik became silver. And two-time Olympic champions, by the way, still perform in various ice shows, despite the fact that she is 78 and he is 81 years old.

1972. Sapporo. The baton of Belousova and Protopopov was picked up by Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov. After the Olympic Games, the couple broke up, as the partner married Lyudmila Smirnova, a silver medalist in these competitions, and then they continued to perform together.

1976. Innsbruck. Irina Rodnina wanted to leave the big sport after the collapse of the champion couple with Ulanov, but her coach Stanislav Zhuk paired her with Alexander Zaitsev, with whom she won these Olympic Games. At least there were no couples close in class to them in the world. Ratings of 6.0 were commonplace for this couple.

1980. Lake Placid. The year before, the couple Rodnin, Zaitsev missed the season due to the birth of their son. In their absence, the American couple won the World Cup, and the American media began a real persecution of the Soviet champions, blaming them for everything that only their imagination suggested to them. The pressure was felt at the competitions, but Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev did not give even a chance to doubt that they were the best skaters in the world at that time.


1984. Sarajevo. Soviet couples of a new generation came to the fore. The best of them were Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev.


1988. Despite the fact that Valova and Vasiliev remained in big sport after winning the previous Olympic Games, they no longer had a chance to win. The whole world was simply in love with the new Soviet couple, who did not know defeat on international competitions. They were Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov. Valova and Vasiliev were second.


1992. Albertville. And again, only domestic couples competed for Olympic gold. As a result, Natalya Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev won the victory.

1994. Lillehammer. It was from these games that professional athletes were allowed to compete at the Olympic Games. And several glorious athletes of the past decided to take advantage of this opportunity, but only one of them took the gold. These were the invincible Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov.


1998. Nagano. After last Olympics, a pair of Mishkutenok and Dmitriev, who then took 2nd place, broke up. They were unhappy with the decision international federation, but still Arthur really wanted to try on the Olympic gold medal again, and with a new partner, Oksana Kazakova, in fierce competition with the second Russian couple Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze made his dream come true.


2002. Salt Lake City. The time has come to become the Olympic champions of one of the most beautiful and incomparable couples in the whole world history figure skating Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, which they did. True, they also yielded to the hysterically begging North Americans, but let's leave it on the conscience of the international federation and will not even mention these pseudo-champions.


2006. Turin. In the last decade, a school of pair figure skating was born and developed strongly, which was able to compete with the Russian one. I'm talking about China. It was in fierce competition with them that the entire Olympic cycle passed, but the main start of the four years was won by our Tatyana Totmyanina and Maxim Marinin.


2010. Vancouver. And now it finally happened. The number 13 became fatal for Russia, and it was for the thirteenth time in a row that the athletes of our country failed to win Olympic gold. And then there was not a single pair capable of competing with the Chinese. But, let's agree that almost half a century of dominance on the world stage means a lot. And Xu Shen and Hongbo Zhao became Olympic champions. It was with them that the history of success of Chinese athletes in figure skating began, it would not be fair if these great skaters ended their careers without becoming Olympic champions.

Who will become the next one will become known very soon, but we can say that this will not affect the historical dominance of our skaters. medal table in pair skating looks like this
GOLD TO SILVER BRONZE
USSR 8 5 1
Russia 4 2 0
Germany 3 3 6
Austria 2 2 1
France 2 0 2
Canada 1 2 3
China 1 2 2
Finland 1 1 0
Belgium 1 0 0
USA 0 3 2
UK 0 1 2
Hungary 0 1 4
Norway 0 1 0

In a world that attracts more and more children into its ranks - future champions, as well as interesting and beautiful to watch on TV or on an ice rink.

The emergence of figure skating

The first skates on iron runners appeared in the 13th-14th centuries in Holland, which is why it is considered the ancestor of figure skating.

After the advent of skates of a fundamentally new type, popularity also came, which incredibly contributed to the rapid development of this sport, which in those days was reduced to drawing various figures on the ice without losing a beautiful pose.

The first set of rules for figure skating was published in England in 1772 and was called the Treatise on Skating. It described all the main figures known at that time. Thus, the UK has secured the authorship of all figures required in figure skating. In addition, in 1742 the first circles of skaters appeared here, the official rules for holding competitions were developed and approved.

The founder of the modern style of figure skating, sports historians unanimously recognize the American Jason Heinz. It was he who played the main role in its distribution throughout the world, and, in particular, in Russia.

Development of figure skating in Russia

In the Russian Empire, figure skating was very popular back in the time of Peter I, who brought the first samples of skates from Europe. It is noteworthy that the Russian emperor was the first who came up with the idea of ​​fastening skates directly to shoes and created, in fact, the prototype of modern skates.

The first Russian manual for skaters was published in 1838 in St. Petersburg and was called " Winter fun and the art of skating”, compiled by the gymnastics teacher of the military educational institution G.M. Pauli.

Figure skating itself appeared in Russia in 1865, and at the same time the first ice rink was opened in the Yusupov Garden in St. Petersburg. At that time, it was the most comfortable in all of Russia and immediately became a platform for the professional training of figure skaters. And in 1878 the first competition among Russian athletes was held.

The first skaters in Russia began to appear at the end of the 19th century. The pioneer who took part in international competitions was A.P. Lebedev, who was a lawyer by education.

Nikolai Poduskov became a participant in the first official competition, which was held in 1896 and took 4th place in single skating, but open championship Russia in 1901 has already taken the last place.

Georgy Sanders, who takes part in the same competitions as Poduskov, took 3rd place, becoming a bronze medalist. In addition, he was the first to perform complex figures, the author of which was, which in turn helped another famous Russian figure skater, Nikolai Panin, who performed them at the 1908 Olympics in London, win the first Olympic gold for Russia.

Of the Soviet champions who won the highest awards in various competitions in figure skating, the most famous are Sergei Chetverukhin (silver at the Sapporo Olympics, bronze at the 1971 World Championships, silver at the World Championships in Calgary (1972) and Bratislava (1973) and bronze at the European Championships in 1969 year) and Sergey Volkov (in 1975 - world champion, champion of the USSR in 1974 and 1976).

Notable Russian male figure skaters in singles

Notable skaters Russia has repeatedly become champions and won prizes in various tournaments - from the Olympic Games to championships of various levels, Grand Prix and Cups.

One of the first best figure skaters in Russia was Alexei Urmanov - multiple medalist and champion of the USSR, Russia and European champion, Olympic champion in 1994.

At the 1998 Olympics, Russia again got gold medal in men's single skating, which he won in addition to the highest Olympic award, in the arsenal of this famous Russian figure skater there is the "gold" of the Russian championship, "silver" and "bronze" of the world and European championships.

One of the most famous and top athletes Russia is Alexei Yagudin, who has the main award of the athlete - the "gold" of the 2002 Olympics. He is a multiple European and world champion, winner of the Grand Prix finals in figure skating.

No less famous is the young single skater Maxim Kovtun, who has several serious victories to his credit. He is a three-time winner of the Russian Championship, took silver at the 2015 European Championship.

The most famous and titled figure skater in Russia and around the world is Evgeni Plushenko. He is the owner of the gold medals of two Olympics (2006 - in singles, 2014 - in team skating), twice took the "silver" of the Olympic Games. Plushenko 3 times won the title of world champion, seven times - the champion of Europe and as many as 10 times - the championship of Russia. He also has many other awards and titles.

Plushenko has a number sports achievements, and his hallmark was the performance of the most difficult figures of single skating at competitions. He has no equal.

Russian male figure skaters are rightfully considered among the best in the world.

Famous Russian female single skaters

Unfortunately, women's single skating in Russia cannot boast a long history of performances and awards in this sport.

The history of victories began only in 1976 with the advent of the figure skater. It was she who won the first awards at the European Championships, and later became the third at the World Championships.

The first Olympic medal - "bronze" - was won by single skater Kira Ivanova in 1983.

Success came to the skaters only when, for the first time in the history of Russia, Irina Slutskaya won the European Championship in 1996. And already in 1999, also at the European Championships, Maria Butyrskaya, Soldatova and Volchkova won all the awards. In the same year, Butyrskaya brought the "gold" of the World Championship.

Despite the fact that the best Russian figure skaters Maria Butyrskaya and Irina Slutskaya no longer perform, they are the most famous and legendary figure skaters in Russia to this day.

The current leaders in Russian women's singles are Yulia Lipnitskaya and Adelina Sotnikova.

Sotnikova, the first and so far the only one, won the Olympic gold medal in women's singles. In addition, she became the winner of the Russian championships 4 times, twice won silver at the European Championships.

Figure skating experts call Adelina a child prodigy, because at the age of 13 she performed the most difficult elements of figure skating.

Yulia Lipnitskaya is also an Olympic gold medalist in team competition. In addition, she has awards of various merits at the World and European Championships, including junior ones.

Yulia is now 17 years old, Adeline is 19, and behind them is the future of women's single skating in Russia.

The best in pair skating

Russia in pair skating for titles, regalia and world famous athletes lucky much more than in singles.

Russian pair skaters by name and faces are known even to those who are very far from the world of sports.

Our couple Oleg Protopopov and Lyudmila Belousova won the first Olympic "gold" back in 1964, again in 1968. They are the author of many elements that are still included in the mandatory program of performances all over the world to this day. At that time, this pair was the only one who skated in a way that no one else could.

The next couple to conquer the Olympics were Alexei Ulanov and Irina Rodnina - in 1972. The next gold Irina Rodnina won already in tandem with Alexander Zaitsev in 1976 and 1980.

The most famous figure skaters in Russia - Olympic champions in pair skating it is:

Maxim Marinin and Tatyana Totmyanina;

Roman Kostomarov and Tatyana Navka.

The leaders of pair skating today are the Russian skaters Maxim Trankov and Tatyana Volosozhar, who already have 2 Olympic gold medals (in pair skating and in team competitions) and they are not going to stop there.

The best couples in ice dancing

Sports dancing on ice as a separate discipline was included in the program of international competitions only in 1950.

In this program, Russia (then still the Soviet Union) was represented by a famous couple and Lyudmila Pakhomova, who set the tone in dancing around the world and became world champions 6 times and won gold at the 1976 Olympics.

The first, already Russian, famous dance couple and Evgenia Platova twice became the gold medalists of the 1994 and 1998 Olympics, which made them record holders in this sport.

A couple is known and among the achievements of which there is the bronze of the 2010 Olympics, the double gold of the European Championships and the 2009 world champions.

One of the most famous young dancers, and Elena Ilyinykh, brought the Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals of the European and Russian championships to the medal treasury of Russia. The couple broke up after the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

To date, the best, strongest and most famous skaters in Russia in ice dancing - Dmitry Solovyov and Ekaterina Bobrova - are the champions of Europe and Russia.

In the last century, when our state was still called Soviet Union, the names of the skaters - our compatriots knew the whole world. Oleg Protopopov and Lyudmila Belousova, Irina Rodnina, Andrey Bukin and Natalya Bestemyanova, Alexander Gorshkov and Lyudmila Pakhomova - these athletes had world fame. Today, Russian skaters, of course, although they are not considered the best on the planet, show decent results, their performances continue the traditions of Russian ice skating. The most famous, best skaters in Russia are presented in today's article.

History of figure skating

First, a little about the history of figure skating. Skating first appeared in Holland in the 14th century, this country is considered the birthplace of this sport. Ice skating has been constantly improved, skates have changed their shape. The main indicator of skill was the ability to draw various figures with runners and at the same time keep balance in beautiful poses. In England, back in 1772, they published a "Treatise on Skating", since then the authorship of all the main figures of ice skating has been assigned to this country. Sports historians consider Jason Heinz to be the founder of modern figure skating. This American played a leading role in the development of the sport around the world, including in Russia.

Even under Peter I in the Russian Empire, figure skating became popular. The emperor himself brought skates from Europe. It was Peter I who came up with the idea to attach skates directly to shoes, in fact, this became the prototype of modern skates. All figure skaters in Russia know that in 1838 the first Russian manual for figure skaters was published, compiled by Pauli. The first ice rink was opened in the Yusupov Garden in 1865. Here the skaters began to practice professionally. In 1878, the best figure skaters of Russia took part in the competition.

Figure skating is actively developing in Russia, one generation of champions is replaced by another. Today our country has much to be proud of. We present the best modern representatives of this sport.

Alexey Urmanov

Figure skaters of Russia, male single skaters, have always been considered a strong link in our country. One of these skaters is Alexei Urmanov. The skater's birthplace is Leningrad, where he was born in 1973. FROM early years his mother took him to the skating rink, where he began to learn the basics of figure skating. Alexei's first world championship took place in 1990, where he received a silver medal in junior competitions.

Since 1991, Urmanov has been a member of the Russian national team, in which he won bronze at the national championship. Participation in competitions in Albertville did not bring results, the guy began to train even harder to achieve the highest skill. Alexey devoted himself completely to training, and this often led to injuries. Anyone could envy the athlete's willpower. Thanks to perseverance, he became the European champion in 1997.

It was thanks to Alexei Urmanov that many fans became zealous fans of figure skating. His artistry touches many. Aleksey always turns ice skating into a small performance, where in a few minutes the audience manages to experience a lot of touching impressions.

Ilya Kulik

Ilya Kulik - a native of the capital, was born in 1977. From the age of five he began to study in the group of coach Gromov. Later, Viktor Kudryavtsev became his mentor, who brought up many champions.

Ilya Kulik lived up to the expectations of his coach and already in 1990 he became the winner in competitions in Norway, where the most talented skaters competed. The championship of Russia among juniors in 1994 brings victory to Kulik, he also deserves silver in the adult championship. This opened the door for him to the national team.

In 1995, Ilya Kulik for the first time became a participant in the European Championship, unexpectedly snatching a victory from Urmanov. In the new season (1995-96), Ilya begins to study with Tatyana Tarasova. An experienced choreographer makes multiple adjustments to his productions, adding complex elements, including the famous triple Axel, performed twice in a row. However, unable to cope with the excitement, Ilya fails the European Championship. But at the world championship, the skater manages to win silver. Kulik begins to prepare for the Olympic Games. Intensified training for the next season under the leadership of Tarasova gives the expected result - Olympic gold. After this triumph, Ilya moves on to professional sports and continues to delight its fans.

Alexey Yagudin

Alexei Yagudin was born in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) in 1980. He started skating at the age of four with coach Alexander Mayorov, Alexander was under his wing until he was 12 years old. From the age of 13, the boy began to take pride of place in competitions. In 1996 he won the World Championship. In 1997, Alexey conquered the European Championship. At the Olympic Games in Nagano, with the participation of Russian figure skaters (men), Yagudin managed to take 5th place. Since 1998, he began to train with the famous Tatyana Tarasova. He trained in the USA, participated in many tournaments, from where he returned as a winner.

The championship, held in Vancouver, was unsuccessful for the skater. He was injured, and he barely managed to reach only 5th place. The fight for the title hasn't stopped. After treatment, Alexei returns to training again. His skill reached second place after Evgeni Plushenko. The next World Championship brought him gold.

The Salt Lake City Olympics were a triumph. Yagudin performed brilliantly, the judges of the ratings were the highest and he won. In 2002, health problems began again, and in 2007, at performances in Germany, due to an injury, the skater was forced to interrupt his performance.

After treatment in the United States, the athlete returned. Began to be active in show business. He performed in a glacial show, starred in a series, judged a KVN game.

Maxim Kovtun

Young, but already famous Maxim Kovtun was born in 1995 in Yekaterinburg. Under the mentorship of Buyanova and Tarasova, the athlete became the owner the highest award Grand Prix for Beginner Talents. He has the title of master of sports, champion of Russia.

Maxim's family is athletic and from the age of 4, his father began to take him with him to a sports school. The older brothers Kovtun are also active figure skaters and participate in various ice shows.

The boy's first coach was Voitsekhovskaya. In the famous competitions where young skaters of Russia participate, Maxim managed to win the "Crystal Skate". Already at the age of 15, the skater performed an axel in three turns. At the Olympic level among youths, he wins silver.

In 2012, under the mentorship of Tarasova and Vodorezova, Maxim took fifth place in the national championship. On the international skating in Zagreb, where he was sent, he also skated fifth.

Especially for Maxim, a program was developed in which he makes five jumps with four turns.

Evgeni Plushenko

Single figure skater (Russia) Evgeni Plushenko was born in the Khabarovsk Territory in 1982. As a child, he and his parents moved to Volgograd, where he began to practice figure skating. For further training, the boy has to move to St. Petersburg. There he hones his skills in sports school. In 2005, Evgeny graduated from the Lesgaft University of Physical Education.

The first sports victory was in the 1996-97 season. At the World Championship for juniors, Evgeny became the winner. Then he took third place at the World Championships, second at the European Championships. He became the world champion in 2001 and repeated his results in 2003, 2004. Plushenko won the European Championship five times. In his sports collection, he has more than a dozen gold medals.

In 2008, Eugene with Dima Bilan performs at Eurovision, here again a victory. Evgeni Plushenko leads an active social life.

Roman Kostamarov and Tatyana Navka

Famous Russian figure skaters Roman Kostamarov and Tatyana Navka are considered one of the most beautiful and artistic couples at our rink. Roman and Tatyana were offered to perform by coach Linichuk. At that time, the athletes were in Delaware. For some time, their duet broke up, Roman performed with the figure skater Semenovich. But as soon as Navka returned to the ice after the birth of her daughter in 2000, the couple reunited again and began to show very impressive results. In 2004 in Germany they became world champions. Then they became Olympic champions, three times became champions of Russia, the same number of times champions of Europe. The result - three-time world champions. Athletes actively take part in show business, become participants in ice shows. The novel is filmed in films and television projects.

Anton Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya

Famous Russian figure skaters Anton Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya did not start skating together right away. Until 1996, Elena performed with Shlyakhov. After receiving a severe head injury, Berezhnaya was literally at death's door. She recovered with difficulty and went out on the ice again, learning to skate again. Anton became a new partner, who supported her in everything. Together they have achieved incredible success. Moskvina was their coach. Soon in Paris, the couple achieved significant success in competitions. Further victories rained down on athletes: prize-winning places at the Olympic Games in 1998, then in 2002. They won the Russian championships four years in a row from 1999 to 2002.

In 2006, Sikharulidze decides to leave the sport and go into business. As an amateur, he still goes out on the ice. He took part in television shows. Anton Sikharulidze headed the Committee for Physical Education and Sports for several years.

Ilya Averbukh and Irina Lobacheva

Famous Russian figure skaters Ilya Averbukh and Irina Lobacheva not only led a joint sports career. Lived in America. This couple was married, in which the son Martin was born. Unfortunately, after returning to Russia, the sports couple also broke up. But in history big sport skaters managed to leave a significant mark. star couple for the period from 1993 to 2002 four times became the champions of the country, winners of the world and European championships. At the 2002 Olympics, they won silver.

Sports injuries made themselves felt, and skating gradually faded away. Returning from America, Ilya created the Ice Symphony company. He became the organizer of the famous ice shows, television projects, so beloved by the audience. In the production sphere, he achieved high results.

Irina Slutskaya

Russian figure skater Irina Slutskaya was born in 1979 in Moscow. From the age of four she began to train in sports club"Moskvich". From the age of six, Gromova's coach began to work with her. Already in 1993, at the Russian Championship, Irina won among juniors and became a bronze medalist at the World Championships. In Sofia in 1996 she received the European title.

In 1998, Irina becomes a participant in the Nagano Olympics and comes in fifth place. In 1999, Ira marries Sergei Mikheev, at the same time her sports career go up. Slutskaya wins prizes in all competitions, performs brilliantly in Salt Lake City.

For some time, Irina Slutskaya dropped out of the sport due to injuries, but soon returned and regained her leadership position. The ultimate goal is the Olympics. Russian figure skaters perform at the games in Turin in 2006, here Slutskaya wins bronze. This victory cost the athlete many efforts. On this, she completed her sports career.

Alexey Tikhonov

Alexey was born in Samara in 1971. The first coach of the skater was Vera Birbraer. On her instructions, at the age of 16, Alexey left for Sverdlovsk, where he trained with Rennik for a year. After that, Tikhonov arrived in the capital and became a student of Zakharov. Further in the biography - life in Japan. Upon returning to his homeland, Alexei began to participate in an ice show led by Tarasova.

The first victory in 1989 was a bronze medal at the World Championships in tandem with Irina Sayfutdinova. In 1998, he began to perform in tandem with Petrova, a year later they became European champions, confirmed the title in 2000. At the Russian Championship for four years (from 1999 to 2005) he was a silver medalist. The main victory was the gold medal of the World Championship in 2000. Repeatedly became a silver and bronze medalist at the championships and Grand Prix. In 2007, the couple announced their retirement.

A winter sport in which athletes skate on ice with additional elements, most often accompanied by music. AT official competitions, as a rule, four sets of medals are played: in women's single skating, in men's single skating, in pair skating, as well as in sports ice dancing. Figure skating included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games.

The most ancient skates were found on the banks of the Southern Bug, not far from Odessa, dating back to the Bronze Age. Such 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 XIII - XIV 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 in the ability to draw intricate figures on the ice and maintain a beautiful pose at the same time.

All mandatory figures were created in the UK. 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 landslide 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.

It has been known in Russia 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 fastening skates - directly to the boots, and thus created the “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 in the military schools of St. Petersburg.

A surge of interest in figure skating occurred after the European tour of American figure skater Jackson Gaines. He showed unexpected possibilities of performing swift figures in the most graceful movements of the body.

Russian figure skating, how separate view sports, was born 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 the training of figure skaters. On March 5, 1878, the first competition of Russian figure skaters took place on it.

In 1881, the Society of Skating Fans consisted of about 30 people.

One of the most famous sports and public figures was Vecheslav Izmailovich Sreznevsky, an honorary member of this society.

At the beginning of the 20th 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). Compulsory figures for women and men were similar, but women's free skating immediately attracted attention with high artistry, plasticity and musicality of movements.

Official women's world championships began in 1924. Since 1930, the world championships in figure skating for women and men have been held jointly at the same time. Soon pair (mixed) skating appeared. The international championship in pair skating was first played in 1908 in St. Petersburg, the winners were German figure skaters.

The fourth type of figure skating - dance Sport on ice - was born much later in England. Only in 1952 in Paris, the dancers played their awards for the first time, the British were the strongest. Synchronized skating competitions have gained the greatest popularity in recent years. This sport has become widespread in Canada, the USA, Sweden, Finland, England, and France.

Beginning in 1983, annual synchronized skating championships began to be held in Canada. And in 1988, these competitions were held together 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, and resumed in 1981. The leaders in this type of figure skating are Canadian and American teams.

The popularity of figure skating grew, and already in 1908 figure skating competitions were included for the first time in the program of the Summer Olympic Games in London.

The first Olympic champions in single skating in 1908 were M. Sayers (Great Britain), U. Salkhov (Sweden), Panin-Kolomenkin (Russia), and the sports couple A. Hubler - G. Burger (Germany). Figure skating was also included in the program of the Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp (1920), subsequently it was presented at all Winter Olympic Games. outstanding success in Olympic competitions achieved Gillis Grafstrem (Sweden), who won 3 gold and 1 silver medal, three-time Olympic champions Sonya Henie (Norway) and Irina Rodnina (USSR).

At the White Olympics in St. Moritz (1948), the American figure skater Dick Button literally made a revolution. It was from him that jumps in several revolutions and other acrobatic elements were "registered" in figure skating. Button literally flew over the rink. He was rewarded with a gold Olympic medal in single skating.

The Olympic championship was played in singles (men's and women's) and pair skating. In 1976 Olympic program sports dancing on ice was included.

Figure skating elements

Before the performance, the skater submits an official form, which describes the approximate content of the program: what elements and in what sequence will be performed.

Steps

In programs, step tracks and steps are performed as connecting elements.

Spirals

Spiral- a spiral is a position with one skate on the ice and a free leg (including the knee and boot) above the level of the thigh. The positions of the spirals differ from each other by the sliding foot (right, left), the edge (outer, inner), the direction of sliding (forward, backward) and the position of the free leg (back, forward, sideways). The drawing of a sequence of spirals is any combination of arcs (on the edges - spirals along a straight line are ignored and are not counted in the number of positions). Only the first three arcs are considered for Difficulty Levels traits. In order for the spiral to be counted, you need to be in position for at least 3 seconds.

The most common spiral is "martin". In the "swallow" the free leg can be from 90 degrees relative to the ice to a full split.

Bielman- performed with raising the free leg, grabbing the blade of the skate with the hands and deflecting in the back. Named in honor of Denise Bielman, who first performed the bilman at international competitions as an element of rotation. With perfect execution, an almost vertical twine is obtained.

Rotations

1) Simple; 2) With a change of foot or combined; 3) Joint; 4) Dance.

Spin jumps

costal:

Axel

Bounce Axel named after the Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, who first performed it in 1882. (rib jump)

Rittberger

Rittberger(English loop) - the jump is named after the German figure skater Werner Rittberger, who first performed it in 1910. (rib jump)

Salchov

Salchov(English Salchow) - the jump is named after the Swedish figure skater Ulrich Salchow, who first performed it in 1908. (rib jump)

toothed:

Sheepskin coat

Sheepskin coat(English toe loop) - the jump was first performed by the American figure skater Bruce Mapes in 1920. (tooth jump)

Flip

Flip(eng. flip) - the jump is performed by pushing the prong of the supporting leg while moving backward on the inner edge of the other leg. Departure is carried out on a jogging foot.

Lutz

Bounce Lutz named after the Austrian figure skater Alois Lutz, who first performed it in 1913. (tooth jump)