Figure skating was first contested as an Olympic sport at the 1908 Summer Olympics, in London, United Kingdom. As this traditional winter sport could be conducted indoors, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved its inclusion in the Summer Olympics program.[1] It was featured a second time at the Antwerp Games,[2] after which it was permanently transferred to the program of the Winter Olympic Games, first held in 1924 in Chamonix, France.[1] In London, figure skating was presented in four events: men's singles, women's singles, men's special figures, and mixed pairs. The special figures contest was won by Russian Nikolai Panin, who gave his country its first ever Olympic gold medal.[3] He remains the event's sole winner, as it was subsequently dropped from the program. Once a demonstration event at Grenoble 1968, ice dancing has been an official medal-awarding Olympic figure skating event since it was introduced in 1976.[2]
Swedish figure skater Gillis Grafström—who competed in four consecutive Olympics, from the 1920 Summer Games to the 1932 Winter Games—is the overall medal leader in the sport, having collected four medals.[4] He is the only man to have won three consecutive singles gold medals, and one of five sportspeople to win medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.[5] Grafström followed the footsteps of countryman Ulrich Salchow, the first Olympic champion and creator of the jump bearing his name, who later became president of the International Skating Union (ISU).[6] Eight figure skaters have won three medals: Sonja Henie (Norway) and Irina Rodnina (Soviet Union), winners of three consecutive titles in the ladies' singles (1928–1936) and pairs (1972–1980) events, respectively; Pierre Brunet and wife Andrée Brunet (France), 1928–1932 pairs champions; ice dancers Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko (Soviet Union and Unified Team); Artur Dmitriev (Unified Team and Russia); and Beatrix Loughran (United States), medalist in both singles and pairs.[7]
Besides Grafström and Henie, only Karl Schäfer (Austria), Dick Button (United States), and Katarina Witt (East Germany) successfully defended their singles titles. Rodnina's two-time partner Alexander Zaitsev, Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov (Soviet Union), in the pairs, and Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov (Russia), in ice dance, also retained their gold medals. Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov are also two-time Olympic champions: they won the pairs competition in 1988 for the Soviet Union, and repeated the victory at the Lillehammer Games, as professional skaters representing Russia.[8]
The United States leads the medal count with a total of 44 medals: 13 gold, 15 silver, and 16 bronze. Three other active National Olympic Committees (NOCs) own 20 medals: Austria, Russia and Canada. On two occasions, one NOC accomplished a medal sweep: Sweden in the 1908 men's singles, and the United States in the 1956 men's singles. Since 1964, Russian figure skaters—representing the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, or Russia—have always won a gold medal in the pairs event, in what is the longest series of victories for one NOC in one event.[5] As of the 2006 Winter Olympics, 228 medals (77 gold, 75 silver, and 76 bronze) have been won by figure skaters representing 24 NOCs.
Men
Swedish Gillis Grafström, is the Olympic figure skating medal leader (4) and the only three-time gold medalist in the men's singles.
Russian Evgeni Plushenko won the 2006 singles title with a world record short program score. [9]
Nikolai Panin of Russia, the sole winner of the special figures event
|
Singles
Special figures
Ladies
Great Britain's Madge Syers ( left) won the first Olympic ladies' singles event and, with her husband Edgar Syers ( right), placed third in the 1908 pairs event.
Norwegian Sonja Henie holds the record of three consecutive victories in the ladies' individual event (1928–1936).
East Germany's Katarina Witt captured the gold medal in the 1988 ladies' singles event, becoming the second female figure skater to win back-to-back Olympic titles.
|
Singles
Mixed
Soviet Union's Irina Rodnina won a record three successive gold medals (1972–1980). In her first victory, she paired with Alexei Ulanov ( pictured).
Ice dancers Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko won a bronze medal in 1984, improved to a silver in 1988, and capped their Olympic appearances with a gold in 1992.
|
Pairs
Ice dancing
Statistics
Athlete medal leaders
Sonja Henie and
Karl Schäfer (pictured in 1932 in
Lake Placid) are two of the sixteen multiple Olympic gold medalists in figure skating.
Athletes who won at least two gold medals or three total medals are listed below.[7]
| Athlete |
Nation |
Olympics |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
| Grafström, GillisGillis Grafström |
 Sweden (SWE) |
1920–1932[a] |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
| Rodnina, IrinaIrina Rodnina |
 Soviet Union (URS) |
1972–1980 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Henie, SonjaSonja Henie |
 Norway (NOR) |
1928–1936 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Dmitriev, ArturArtur Dmitriev |
 Unified Team (EUN)
 Russia (RUS) |
1992–1998 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| Brunet, PierrePierre Brunet |
 France (FRA) |
1924–1932 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| Brunet, AndréeAndrée Brunet |
France (FRA) |
1924–1932 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| Ponomarenko, SergeiSergei Ponomarenko |
Unified Team (EUN)
Russia (RUS) |
1984–1992 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| Klimova, MarinaMarina Klimova |
Unified Team (EUN)
Russia (RUS) |
1984–1992 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| Loughran, BeatrixBeatrix Loughran |
 United States (USA) |
1924–1932 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Schäfer, KarlKarl Schäfer |
 Austria (AUT) |
1928–1936 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Belousova, LudmilaLudmila Belousova |
Soviet Union (URS) |
1964–1968 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Platov, EvgenyEvgeny Platov |
Russia (RUS) |
1994–1998 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Button, DickDick Button |
United States (USA) |
1948–1952 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Gordeeva, EkaterinaEkaterina Gordeeva |
Soviet Union (URS)
Russia (RUS) |
1988, 1994 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Zaitsev, AlexanderAlexander Zaitsev |
Soviet Union (URS) |
1976–1980 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Grinkov, SergeiSergei Grinkov |
Soviet Union (URS)
Russia (RUS) |
1988, 1994 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Protopopov, OlegOleg Protopopov |
Soviet Union (URS) |
1964–1968 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Grishuk, OksanaOksana Grishuk |
Russia (RUS) |
1994–1998 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Witt, KatarinaKatarina Witt |
 East Germany (GDR) |
1984–1988 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Medals per year
| # |
Number of medals won by the NOC at these Games |
– |
NOC did not win medals at these Games |
|
NOC did not participate at these Games (in 1912, there was no figure skating) |
| NOC |
08 |
12 |
20 |
24 |
28 |
32 |
36 |
48 |
52 |
56 |
60 |
64 |
68 |
72 |
76 |
80 |
84 |
88 |
92 |
94 |
98 |
02 |
06 |
Total |
| Austria (AUT) |
0 – |
-1 |
-1 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
20 |
 Belgium (BEL) |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
2 |
 Canada (CAN) |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
2 |
0 – |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
20 |
 China (CHN) |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
 Czechoslovakia (TCH) |
-1 |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
5 |
| East Germany (GDR) |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
10 |
 Finland (FIN) |
0 – |
-1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
2 |
| France (FRA) |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 – |
12 |
 Germany (GER) |
2 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
2 |
-1 |
1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
6 |
 Germany (EUA) |
0 – |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
0 – |
1 |
2 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
3 |
 Great Britain (GBR) |
6 |
-1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
15 |
 Hungary (HUN) |
0 – |
-1 |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
6 |
 Italy (ITA) |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
1 |
 Japan (JPN) |
-1 |
-1 |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
2 |
 Netherlands (NED) |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
3 |
| Norway (NOR) |
0 – |
-1 |
3 |
0 – |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
6 |
| Russia (RUS) |
1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
20 |
| Soviet Union (URS) |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
24 |
| Sweden (SWE) |
3 |
-1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
10 |
 Switzerland (SUI) |
0 – |
-1 |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
3 |
 Ukraine (UKR) |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
2 |
| Unified Team (EUN) |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
5 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
5 |
| United States (USA) |
0 – |
-1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 – |
1 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
44 |
| West Germany (FRG) |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
1 |
0 – |
0 – |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
2 |
| Year |
08 |
12 |
20 |
24 |
28 |
32 |
36 |
48 |
52 |
56 |
60 |
64 |
68 |
72 |
76 |
80 |
84 |
88 |
92 |
94 |
98 |
02 |
06 |
– |
See also
Notes
- ^ Grafström's first gold medal was in the figure skating tournament held during the 1920 Summer Olympics. The remaining medals were won at the 1924–1932 Winter Games.
- ^ No silver medal was awarded in the 2002 Olympic figure skating pairs event, as the Canadians Salé and Pelletier were also given a gold medal, in the aftermath of a judging scandal.[10]
References
- General
- Specific
- ^ a b "Figure Skating". Official website of the Olympic Movement. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/disciplines_uk.asp?DiscCode=FS. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
- ^ a b "Figure Skating: History". Official website of the Olympic Movement. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/history_uk.asp?DiscCode=FS&sportCode=SK. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
- ^ Windhausen, John D. (1976). "Russia's First Olympic Victor" (PDF). Journal of Sport History (United States of America: North American Society for Sport History) 3 (1): 35–44. http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1976/JSH0301/jsh0301d.pdf. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
- ^ "Gillis Grafström". Official website of the Olympic Movement. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/profiles/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=71728. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ a b "Factsheet: Records and medals at the Olympic Winter Games" (PDF). Official website of the Olympic Movement. International Olympic Committee. February 2009. http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_1136.pdf. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
- ^ "Skating and Olympism" (PDF). Olympic Review (Lausanne: International Olympic Committee) (199): 353. May 1984. http://www.la84foundation.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1984/ore199/ORE199z.pdf. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Kubatko, Justin. "Figure Skating". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/sports/FSK/. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
- ^ "Then & Now: Ekaterina Gordeeva". CNN.com (CNN). June 22, 2005. http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/05/16/cnn25.tan.gordeeva/index.html. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
- ^ Mihoces, Gary (February 14, 2006). "Record day for Russia's Plushenko; Weir second". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/torino/figureskating/2006-02-14-mens-short_x.htm. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ a b "Sale, Pelletier share gold with Russian pair". Salt Lake'02 Winter Games. Associated Press (ESPN). February 15, 2002. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter02/figure/news?id=1333280. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
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