Introduction to Figure Skating Competitions
Introduction to Figure Skating Competitions
Just got into figure skating and can’t wait to see more? Read on for an overview of all the elite competitions currently held in the sport!
See also: More intro to skating guides; figure skating event calendar
LAST UPDATED: Oct. 17, 2023
DISCIPLINES & STRUCTURE OF EVENTS
There are four main disciplines or “types” of figure skating: men’s singles, women’s singles, pairs, and ice dance. Pair and ice dance teams are composed of one man and one woman. Synchronized skating is another discipline involving large groups of skaters, but these competitions are held separately from the other four disciplines and will not be covered here.
Each skater or team performs a short program (SP) and a free program or free skate (FP, FS), set to music. Skaters usually perform the same programs throughout a skating season. The scores from the short and free programs are added together to determine the skaters’ final scores. The skater with the highest total score wins. To learn more about the ISU Judging System, see this guide.
Singles skating: Elements in men’s and women’s singles skating include jumps, spins, and step sequences. Jumps with more rotations are more difficult and are worth more points. Most top male skaters perform triple and quadruple jumps. Most female skaters perform triple jumps, but some perform quadruple jumps.
Pairs skating: Pairs skating elements include overhead lifts, throw jumps (where the man throws the woman into a jump), synchronized side-by-side jumps and spins, pair spins, death spirals (not as dangerous as they sound), and twists (in which the woman is thrown straight upwards and rotates in the air).
Ice dance: There are no jumps in ice dance. Ice dance is based in specific footwork patterns inspired by ballroom dancing. Ice dancers also perform lifts, twizzles (spinning in unison while traveling across the ice), and spins. Unlike lifts in pairs skating, the point of contact between partners in dance lifts must not go over the lifting partner’s head for an extended period of time.
The two segments of an ice dance competition are called the rhythm dance (RD) (formerly short dance) and the free dance (FD). (Before the 2010-11 season, there were 3 segments: the compulsory dance, original dance, and free dance.) The rhythm dance has a predetermined pattern, tempo, and style of music. The requirements for the rhythm dance change each season. The free dance is not as rigidly structured, but skaters must still complete required elements.
LEVELS OF COMPETITION
Figure skating is governed by the International Skating Union*. There are different levels in ISU-sanctioned skating competitions, primarily separated by age: senior, junior, and novice (basic, intermediate, and advanced). Most elite skaters compete at the senior level. Skaters can move up to the next level as soon as they meet the age requirements. Skaters who compete in one category internationally can compete in another category nationally, depending on the rules of their country’s skating federation. Some countries may designate levels lower than novice for domestic competitions.
To be eligible for competitions in an age category, the skater must be within the following age ranges before July 1st of the current season.
Senior: At least 17 years old (starting from the 2024-25 season)
Junior: At least 13 years old and less than 19 years old (21 for male pair/dance skaters)
Advanced Novice: At least 10 years old and less than 15 years old (17 for male pair/dance skaters)
Intermediate Novice: Less than 15 years old
Basic Novice: Less than 13 years old
Major international junior competitions in the skating season include the Junior Grand Prix Series, Junior World Championships, and the Winter Youth Olympics (every four years). Major senior competitions include the Grand Prix Series, Four Continents Championships, European Championships, World Championships, and Winter Olympics (every four years).
(*SYWTWFS will mainly focus on elite-level ISU skating and skaters. There are other skating competitions, such as the ISI circuit, and adult skating, meant for older skaters who started learning later in life or skaters who no longer compete on the ISU circuit.)
SKATING COMPETITIONS
The skating season officially begins on July 1st, but major competitions generally run from August to April. During the summer months of the off season, skaters take a break, participate in ice shows, and have new programs choreographed for the following season.
JUNIOR GRAND PRIX:
The Junior Grand Prix (JGP) is a series of seven competitions that occur almost every weekend from the middle of August to the beginning of October each year. Most of them take place in Europe; the locations vary each year. The Junior Grand Prix series was first held in 1997.
Skaters are assigned to JGP events by their national federations, and each federation has different criteria for how they choose their assignments. Each skater or team can compete in up to two events. Due to the small size of the pairs field, not every JGP has a pairs event.
In each competition, skaters or teams are awarded a number of points for their placement. After all JGP events are complete, the top 6 skaters/teams will advance to the Junior Grand Prix Final (JGPF), which currently takes place at the same time and place as the Senior Grand Prix Final. Current rules do not allow skaters to compete in both the Junior and Senior Grand Prix series in the same season.
The ISU JGP Youtube channel has uploaded videos from all of the JGP events since the 2011-12 season.
GRAND PRIX:
The senior Grand Prix is a series of invitational competitions for mid- to high-ranking senior skaters. They were first held in 1995 and generally take place from late October to late November each year. Each skater/team can compete in up to two events. (In the past, skaters have participated in up to three Grand Prix events.) Skaters are eligible for the Grand Prix based on their results at the previous World Championships, season’s best scores from the previous and current season, and world standing. Each hosting federation invites eligible skaters to compete at their event. Since eligiblity for the Grand Prix does not depend on nationality, there can be a large number of skaters from a single country competing on the Grand Prix, but each individual Grand Prix event can only have up to 3 skaters from the same country in each discipline.
Current Grand Prix events include:
Skate America (USA)
Skate Canada International (Canada)
Cup of China (China)
Rostelecom Cup (Russia) (Banned since 2022; replaced by other hosts)
Internationaux de France (France)
NHK Trophy (Japan)
The order of events and the location of a Grand Prix event within a country can change each year. Prior to 2003, there was a Grand Prix event in Germany instead of China, and some Grand Prix events have been hosted by other nations when the original host was unable to hold the competition.
After all of the Grand Prix events are complete, the top 6 skaters/teams in each discipline advance to the Grand Prix Final. To learn more about the qualification process for the Final, see this guide. The combined Junior and Senior Grand Prix Final takes place in a different country each year, usually at the beginning of December.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Each member nation of the ISU holds a national championship each season for the federation’s own skaters. Most of the major national championships take place after the Grand Prix series ends (December - January). Some countries with fewer skaters combine their national championships, eg. the Four Nationals Championships, which includes skaters from Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.
Federations with deeper fields often use Nationals to determine which skaters will be sent to the ISU Championships in the second half of the season, including the World Championships or Olympics. But each federation has different criteria for assigning skaters, so Nationals isn’t always the deciding factor.
EUROPEAN & FOUR CONTINENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The European Championships (Euros) is the oldest of the four ISU Championships; it was first held in 1891, making it older than the ISU itself. The European Championships is held in a different European country every year and usually near the end of January. The number of competitors per country at Euros is determined in the same way as Junior and Senior Worlds (see the next section).
The Four Continents Championships (4CC) was created in 1999; its participants are from non-European countries. Its location changes every year and it is usually held in February, or January during Olympic seasons. Each member nation can enter up to 3 skaters per discipline.
In order to compete at Euros or 4CC (as well as the World Championships), skaters must obtain the required technical minimum scores at a previous competition in the same or preceding season. The technical minimum scores for ISU Championships are set by the ISU each season.
JUNIOR & SENIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The World Championships is the most important event in the regular skating season. It first took place in 1896, while Junior Worlds first took place in 1976. These competitions are held in a different country each year. Junior Worlds is usually held in early March and senior Worlds in late March.
The number of skaters/teams allowed to compete from each country is determined by the results of the previous season’s World Championships. Each ISU member nation automatically receives at least one spot in each discipline, provided they have a skater/team who fulfills the technical minimum scores. Each nation can have a maximum number of 3 spots per discipline. Skaters are selected to compete at the World Championships by their federations, who may use results from the national championships to determine the selection.
Skaters’ placements at the World Championships determine how many spots their federation will have at the next World Championships. The following chart shows how many points a skater earns for their placement at the World Championships:
The following requirements must be met for a nation to earn more than one spot at the next World Championships:
One skater competing: Skater must earn 2 points or less to earn 3 spots. Skater must earn 10 points or less to earn 2 spots.
Two or more skaters competing: Sum of top 2 skaters’ points must be 13 or less to earn 3 spots. Sum of top 2 skaters’ points must be 28 or less to earn 2 spots.
A few examples of how skaters earn spots for their country:
A country has 1 skater and they place 8th. They earn 2 spots for next season’s Worlds.
A country has 1 skater and they place 2nd. They earn 3 spots for next season’s Worlds.
A country has 3 women’s skaters and the top 2 place 6th and 7th at Worlds. The sum of their points is 6 + 7 = 13, so they earn 3 spots for next season’s Worlds.
A country has 2 men’s skaters and they place 12th and 20th at Worlds. The sum of their points is 12 + 16 = 28, so they earn 2 spots for next season’s Worlds.
A country has 2 women’s skaters; one places 15th and the other 25th. The sum of their placements is 15 + 18 = 33. They earn 1 spot for next season’s Worlds.
The World Championships still takes place during Olympic seasons, but since it occurs after the Olympics, some skaters may choose not to go.
Euros and 4CC, along with Junior and senior Worlds, give out small medals to the top 3 skaters after each SP or FS segment. Small medals are only given at ISU Championships; they are not given on the Grand Prix or any other international competitions.
WORLD TEAM TROPHY:
The top 6 qualifying countries (based on skaters’ World Standings) compete as teams in the World Team Trophy (WTT), held after Worlds every other year. The first World Team Trophy was held in 2009. All of them have taken place in Japan.
Each team is composed of up to two women, two men, one pair and one dance team. Each skater/team performs their short and free programs, winning a number of points based on their placement in the competition. The country with the total number of points at the end of the competition wins.
WINTER OLYMPICS:
The Winter Olympics is a senior competition, taking place every four years. The Olympics includes the four disciplines of women’s singles, men’s singles, pairs, and ice dance. Each country’s federation chooses their Olympic team according to their own criteria. Many federations take the national championships and Grand Prix results into consideration. The number of competitors each country is allowed to send to the Olympics is determined at the previous World Championships and follows similar, though not the same, rules as Worlds - see this guide for more info.
The Team Figure Skating Event was first added to the Olympic Games at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Skaters in the team event can only be skaters who qualified for the individual events; however, if a country qualified skaters in 3 individual disciplines, they can bring in a fourth skater/team who hadn’t qualified individually in order to complete their team. Each team is composed of one skater per discipline, but teams can have different skaters compete in the short program and free skate in up to two disciplines, provided they have more than one skater who qualified in those disciplines. Skaters earn points for their placement in the short program and free skate. All points from the short program and free skate are added together, and the team with the highest score wins.
OTHER COMPETITIONS:
Besides the major competitions covered above, there are several “B” competitions throughout the season. These competitions may include more than one level of skating, including senior, junior, novice or lower. Top skaters sometimes use these competitions as practice or to gain ranking points. Scores recorded at most B competitions do not count towards a skater’s ISU season’s or personal best score, but they do count for technical minimum scores necessary for participation in ISU Championships.
In the 2014-15 season, the ISU introduced the Challenger Series, which brought together several B competitions into a series similar to the Grand Prix. The Challenger Series runs from October to December. Scores recorded at Challenger events do count for season’s and personal bests. However, there is no final to qualify for in the Challenger Series.
Some well-known B competitions that form the core of the Challenger Series:
US International Skating Classic (USA)
Lombardia Trophy (Italy)
Autumn Classic International (Canada)
Nebelhorn Trophy (Germany)
Ondrej Nepela Trophy/Memorial (Slovakia)
Finlandia Trophy (Finland)
Golden Spin of Zagreb (Croatia)