Figure skating

An ice skating sporting event where individuals and mixed couples compete to perform the most spectacular and accurately-performed stunts while skating to music.

Competitors perform a variety of manoeuvers, which can be grouped into three main types - jumps, spins, and step sequences. Jumps involve the skater leaping into the air, rotating rapidly to land after completing one or more rotations. There are many types of jumps, which vary by body position and landing technique, and are usually classified by the name of the first person to perform the jump and the number of rotations. Spins involve the skater coming to a halt and spinning around on the skate. wtf are step sequences????. In pairs competition, spins are often performed by the female partner with the assistance of the male partner, and there is an additional class of moves where the male skater lifts his female partner in to the air.

In a figure skating competition, skaters must perform two routines, the "short program", in which the actions to be performed are closely restricted, and the "long program", which as the name suggests is longer and also allows considerably more artistic freedom. Skaters are judged for "technical merit", and "artistic quality" in each performance. The scores for the two performances are combined, with the long program scoring weighted more heavily than the short program. The highest scoring individual or team is declared the winner.

Figure skating is a very popular part of the [Winter Olympic Games]?, with the elegance of both the competitors and the movements they perform attracting many spectators. Unsurprisingly, the best skaters show many of the same physical and psychological attributes as gymnasts. Many of the best skaters are from Russia and the United States.

The sport is closely associated with showbusiness, with a "spectacular" where performers skate unjudged, crowd pleasing routines at the end of competition held at many tournaments, and many skaters both during and after their competitive careers also skate in ice-skating exhibitions. Many fans of more traditional sports find the judging procedures incomprehensible and the universal practice of judges attending competitors' practice sessions dubious in the extreme.

A related but seperate event, [ice dancing]?, removes the aerobatic stunts permissible in figure skating and concentrates on the aesthetics of dancing on ice.