ISU

The World's best Figure Skaters including reigning Olympic Champions Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) and Alina Zagitova (RUS), 2019 ISU World Figure Skating Champion Nathan Chen (USA) and four-time Ice Dance ISU World Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA), two-time ISU World Pairs Champions Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (CHN) as well as Olympic, ISU World, ISU European and ISU Four Continents medalists are getting ready to take center stage now as the attention shifts to the six events of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series 2019/20.

The ISU is pleased to announce that all ISU Events, from the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, ISU World Cup Speed Skating, ISU World Cup Short Track Series and ISU Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel as of season 2019/20.

Simen Spieler Nilssen may miss the first World Cup races of the Speed Skating season in November. The 26-year-old Norwegian got injured in a cycling accident together with teammate Sverre Lunde Pedersen in Inzell, Germany, in September.

Men wear black skating boots, women wear white or sometimes tan-coloured skating boots. However, that was not always the case. In the first decades of Figure Skating competitions, men and women wore only black skating boots as you can see on old footage and photographs.

Seven events, seven countries, seven weeks, thousands of jumps, spins, steps performed, 394 young skaters/couples representing 68 ISU members, amazing performances and emerging stars highlighted the 22nd season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019/20.

In Focus presents the best pictures of the events. Have a look at the exceptional images taken at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Egna/Neumarkt last weekend.

Kseniia Sinitsyna (RUS), Daniel Grassl (ITA), Petr Gumennik (RUS) and ice dancers Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/Andrey Filatov (RUS) grabbed the last available spots for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final as this season‘s Junior Grand Prix series concluded in Egna/Neumarkt (ITA) this weekend.

The clap skate caused a Speed Skating revolution in 1997. In the 1997/98 Speed Skating season nine out of ten world records in both the men's and women's events were broken thanks to the innovation. But it wasn't as new an idea as it seemed to be. The first patent for a clap skate was granted to one Charles Corneby in England in 1884, but somehow the idea was never put into practice in international competition.

In Focus presents the best pictures of the events. Have a look at the exceptional images taken at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Croatia Cup in Zagreb, Croatia last weekend. 

It was a tough battle for the spots in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final at the sixth and penultimate event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating series in Zagreb (CRO).

Last season, the Belgian Short Track Speed Skating squad benefited from what might seem like the skating equivalent of winning the lottery. In an unorthodox partnership with a country that is often considered a fierce sporting rival, the Netherlands, the decision was made to effectively merge the two nations’ squads.

Synchronized Skating teams are known for their mastery of intricate formations, intersections and spatial awareness. The sport has evolved to demand well rounded athletes who can also twizzle, lift and death spiral—all skills that are much harder to sync up, and all are skills that give Synchronized Skating coaches a good reason to seek expertise outside of their team and / or club.

This week, In Focus presents to you the best pictures of the fifth ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating event in Gdansk (POL).

U.S. Champion Alysa Liu, Ice Dancers Avonley Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik (USA) and Pair Skaters Apollinariia Panfilova/Dmitry Rylov (RUS) secured their tickets to the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Torino with victories at the fifth ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk (POL). Men‘s champion Daniil Samsonov (RUS) has a good chance to go to Italy as well after a first and third place on the circuit. Silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama (JPN) qualified with a gold from Riga and silver from Gdansk. The 12 medals went to six ISU members.

Many National Figure Skating Federations hold „test skates“ at the beginning of the season where their top skaters present their new programs to judges and technical specialists to receive valuable feedback. These test skates take place in August or September and they are generally closed to the public, sometimes allowing Media to attend.